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08.01.2019 13:04:01
Every fourth adult in Germany suffers from severe or even dangerous to health obesity. The tendency is that over the last few years the number of such people has increased by 22%. The diagnosis of obesity is associated with a high risk of premature death. According to the Robert Koch Institute, obesity contributes to the development of such chronic diseases as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and certain types of oncological diseases.
Many patients cannot get rid of excess weight for a long time in spite of the diet and exercise. Thus, obesity is becoming a growing problem for the health care system. “It’s important to take responsibility for your own health, but with a certain grade of the disease, many patients can no longer do this,” says Anja Hilbert, Professor of Behavioural Medicine at the Research and Treatment Centre for Adiposity Diseases at the University of Leipzig.
Therefore, there is often only one way out ‒ bariatric surgery. Using this surgery, doctors greatly reduce the size of the stomach. Patients eat less, and as a result pounds are lost. Thomas (44 years old) from the city of Halle chose this way. Having 226 kg in weight, he decided to drastically change his life. Two years ago he underwent surgery. Since then, he has lost 105 kg. Now he proudly shows his old trousers. Two men like him can fit into them now. Thomas says, “Now I can run a lot without pain, climb stairs, my mobility has almost completely recovered.”
However, the fierce struggle with excess weight goes on, because patients do not always reach the desired weight or the desired figure. In addition, many of them need to overcome a large number of bureaucratic barriers before they even get permission for surgery from the health insurance cash register.
Despite this fact, along with the number of obese people, the number of surgeries is increasing. There are clinics all over Germany specializing in this problem. In the meantime, the Diakoniekrankenhaus Hospital in Halle has invested a large amount of money in the possibility of such operations. While there are no problems with technical equipment, both patients and doctors complain that the medical support for obese patients in Germany is not enough. Thomas experienced it daily. Long-term psychological support plays a big role. “Your head is one of your main enemies, and it is constantly with you. Whether you lose one hundred kilograms or fifty, everything remains the same.” Anja Hilbert, who is researching obesity, criticizes the lack of psychological support after surgery, “Private practitioners often have little experience with obese patients, or there is no such experience at all. In Germany, it is really necessary to work further on this issue.”
But criticism comes from another side as well. According to the anti weight discrimination society, the fact that gastric surgeries are increasingly being performed is the cause of stigmatization of obese people by society. According to them, doctors and clinics have taken advantage of this technique, because they can earn good money on this surgery. Eventually, the time has come to take people with excess weight as they are, instead of cramming them into the conventional bounds.
