Myths and Misinformation of Bariatric Surgery

#1 BARIATRIC SURGERY IS DANGEROUS.

Most people fear undergoing bariatric surgery for the common reason that they think it is “too risky”. The actual risk of having a major acute complication (bleeding, leak or thrombosis) based on large databases (MBSAQIP) is less than 1%.

#2 BARIATRIC SURGERY = COSMETIC SURGERY 

Despite having a good cosmetic result bariatric surgery’s main objective is to improve health and quality of life. Numerous studies have shown greater life expectancy, less strokes and heart attacks on people that got bariatric surgery compared to similar patients with obesity that didn’t.

#3 OBESE PEOPLE ARE LAZY AND UNMOTIVATED 

Obesity is as much of a disease as epilepsy, diabetes or the flu - so blaming the patients for it is a big mistake. This is a greatly misunderstood disease by many people and even doctors where the patients get blamed and stigmatized often.

A large part of the population thinks it’s just a matter of willpower, however, the actual origin of obesity has many genetic, hormonal and neurological factors among others. That’s why dieting and exercise alone don’t work on most of the population long term.