From One Addiction to Another
Gastric bypass surgery has helped millions of women loose weight and fight the battle of compulsive eating. Because of the popularity of the surgery in recent years, it has almost seemed like a miracle cure for the severely obese. But one issues has been found creeping in the background of all the hype surrounding the benefits of weight loss surgery. ABC Nightline did a story shown on Yahoo! News bringing to light the growing problem. The underlying addictions that effect those who had compulsive eating problems prior to their surgery. What happens when these women transfer from one addictive behavior to another? What they are finding is a new battle with a different opponent.
Transfer addiction is relatively new on the scene of side effects of gastric bypass surgery. But the issue is seen as a rising concern by those conducting Bariatric meetings, designed as support group for those who have undergone the procedure. What they are seeing is a rising number of patients who transfer their addiction from food onto something else. The most common examples are alcohol, shopping and sexual addiction. Many of the patients say the were not warned about possibility of this possible side-effect before the surgery. This could possibly be because the procedure itself is still in its infancy and the long-term side-effects are not known yet.
What is known is that more information needs to be collected in order for the problem to be properly addressed. In the mean time, the majority of the women interviewed said if they had to do it over again, they still would have had the surgery but would have addressed their addictive behaviors beforehand. As the number of people going under the knife to loose weight rises, the problem can only be expected to grow. Will doctors give their patients the necessary education to help patients address the problem before they have surgery? My belief is that because of the life-altering effects of this type of surgery, there should be a screening process for potential patients. A simple psychological work-up, much like what is required for those seeking gender reassignment, would help these women address potential issues ahead of time. Sounds like a simple solution right? Lets see if the medical community answers the call.
Sources:
Transfer of Addiction - Yahoo! News with ABC Nightline
Gastric Bypass - Medicine Plus
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June 11th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
This is exactly why there isn’t a quick fix for anything. What this shows is that we need to fix the underlying problem before we can move on to anything else. If these people aren’t doing the work they need to do to get a hold on their addictive behavior, then having gastric bypass is only going to help them drop pounds on the outside and not help at all what’s going on in the inside. work on the inside first, the rest will fall into place. I’ll get off my soap box now!
June 11th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Lyndsey, you are completely correct. What I found interesting is that many of these women admitted to having addictive behaviors in addition to their compulsive eating before they had or even considered surgery. My fear is that it is hard to see these types of problems when you are in the thick of it. How many drug addicts and alcohols admit to having a problem? I think it is thus the responsibility of the health care community to address this issue before allowing these women to go under the knife. I’m not saying they should be denied the surgery if they have this problem but they should be counseled about the side-effects and seek assistance for their addiction in addition to having the surgery. Thanks for your insight. Your soap box was well placed!
June 11th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
http://digg.com/health/From_One_Addiction_to_Another
June 13th, 2007 at 3:58 am
[...] Her Daily News June 10, 2007 [...]
June 13th, 2007 at 8:05 am
Thanks for the link!