Weight loss surgery demand hikes up

Weight loss surgery, instant way of losing weight without making any hard efforts but expensive and this makes it out of reach for poor peoples. Many patients at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville are using Bariatric surgery to get rid of their overweight.

Although many people think of it as purely cosmetic, there are health benefits that come with trimming fat.

Sally Askew, an Albemarle County resident who underwent the procedure said “I was ready to go. I bugged them to death until they got me in. I was very excited about it.”

Askew said she was tired of not being able to be active with her grandchildren. Now, she's lost 35 pounds and says she has more energy.

“This just seemed to be to be what I was looking for for a long time. I've always been pretty active, but it's just more fun now,” she added.

But the road to improved health wasn’t simple.

Dr. Michael Trahan, a surgeon who performs the procedures at the hospital told “The misconception is that bariatric surgery is an easy way out of morbid obesity. It's actually very challenging in a lot of ways.”

Gastric bypass and Banding are two procedures. During bypass surgery, the intestines and stomach are divided, and staples are used to seal everything shut. Option two, a banding procedure, shrinks the stomach without any cuts. Instead, a band is tightened to control intake.

Trahan says the surgery helps people with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and Type 2 diabetes.