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Bariatric Surgery
"If people are morbidly obese, there's something they can do about it."
- Dr. Stephen Boyce, Covenant Weight Management Center director
Nearly a quarter of all Tennesseans are obese, putting the state's population among the top 10 heaviest in the United States. Nationally, 8 to 10 percent of the population qualifies as morbidly obese - 100 pounds or more overweight.
What is Bariatric Surgery?
The word "bariatric" comes from the Greek word baros, meaning weight. Bariatric surgery is another word for Gastric Bypass and weight loss surgery, which is surgery designed to treat severe or morbid obesity.
Types of Surgery at CWMC
Gastric BypassLap Band®
Dr. Steven Boyce on the Dr. Bob Overholt Show:
The Skinny on Surgery
Parkwest is working to reverse the epidemic through a surgical procedure designed for morbidly obese individuals. Bariatric surgery - or gastric bypass - reduces most of the stomach to just a small pouch. The idea is to decrease the storage capacity of food. Surgeons also reshape the small intestine, reducing the body's absorption of calories.Patients lose weight almost immediately. It's not uncommon for them to drop 17 percent of their excess weight after just one month. As they continue to slim down, they often find relief from diabetes, sleep apnea, joint stress, and high blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Their new life is healthier. And they may live years longer.
Gaining a Life
Meet Kathy Pruitt, who tried many other weight-loss methods, and always gained the pounds back - plus more. Thanks to bariatric surgery at Parkwest, she lost 90 pounds and has kept it off. "I feel like I've got my life back," she says as a guest on the Dr. Bob Show, a weekly syndicated television program that is hosted by Dr. Bob Overholt.According to the National Institutes of Health, surgery offers the only proven long-term weight loss solution for patients for whom all other therapies have failed. After 10 to 14 years, many bariatric surgery patients have maintained a loss of approximately 100 pounds, alleviating many of their weight-related health problems.
I Do: A Lifetime Commitment
Successful weight loss and maintenance is only possible if a patient commits to a lifetime of behavioral changes and medical follow-up.To be eligible for this procedure, patients must have a Body Mass Index of 40 or more, be 100 pounds or more overweight, or have an obesity-related disease.