There's no doubt that gastric banding can save lives. When people are morbidly obese (or beyond) and have medical conditions that can be life threatening, urgent action is required. But it is not a "get out of jail free" procedure. Conditions such as diabetes may improve significantly, and arthritis can be stopped in its tracks. When you're not carrying that extra 60, 100kg or more your knees will certainly be a lot happier. But if the emotional issues are not dealt with, a person can still use food to control mood - they just need to be a little more clever about it.
Some people will continue to do battle with their emotions and stress responses but no longer be able to soothe them with food. What happens then? They may not be able to binge on Big Macs anymore but there's still ice cream, chocolate, milk shakes, Baileys and where there's a will, there's a way.
What's my point? Gastric banding is not the easy way out. Check out this article about failure to lose weight after gastric banding http://www.brighthub.com/science/medical/articles/66523.aspx Isn't it sad that this can be seen by obese individuals as failing at their last resort. Giving up could be a death sentence. However, adequate long-term support to change the "why" of eating is a vital component to lifelong weight change. Add this component to the mix and whether you have a gastric band or not, the prospect of success is so much greater.
This is the article that prompted my blog today.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/199162.php
And this is the blog of someone who had gastric banding. http://wlsgastricbanding.blogspot.com She is not a very happy bunny, and appears to have unrealistic goals (BMI of 18.5 is her gold standard) and panics and loathes herself every time she puts on a pound. Perhaps on the healthy, well adjusted, well supported people should have a lapband - but they can probably improve their weight and health without one. Oh the paradox!
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