Obesity now reaches four out of ten Spaniards

In Spain, according to the study ENPE (Nutritional Study and of Alimentary Habits of the Spanish Population) published in 2016, 39.3% of the population is overweight and 21.6% obesity. Obesity has become a chronic epidemic that can reduce the life expectancy of people suffering from it by as much as ten years, as Quirónsalud specialists say, on the occasion of the European Day of Obesity celebrated on next Saturday, May 18.

Obesity negatively affects the general health of the sufferer, and is associated with other cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, sleep apnea, and certain types of cancer such as colon cancer or the breast. "The origin of this unstoppable increase in obesity", points out Dr. Juan Luján, Head of the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery and the Obesity Unit of the Hospital Quirónsalud de Murcia, "is in the changes in lifestyle, the sedentarismo and the abandonment of the Mediterranean diet that has been implanted in the current society ".

The increase in obesity and the diseases that accompany it (comorbidities) has led surgeons to expand the indications for bariatric surgery, as explained by Dr. Carlos Sala, Chief of Obesity Units of Quirónsalud Alicante y Valencia "although surgery bariatric is generally indicated for obese people with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 35 or 40, due to the global epidemic of diabesity and excellent results, we also direct interventions towards the resolution of comorbidities, even in patients with obesity grade I (BMI> 30) who suffer from serious diseases such as diabetes with poor metabolic control ".

High effectiveness of obesity surgery

Obesity as well as type 2 diabetes can remit with surgery and the results are highly encouraging in more than 75% of obese patients who undergo bariatric or metabolic surgery who, in addition to losing a great deal of weight, leave of being diabetic and improving cardiovascular risk. "The effectiveness is immediate in patients with type 2 diabetes, who usually stop using insulin and medication after the intervention," says Dr. Lujan.

Tubular gastrectomy and gastric bypass are among the most effective and safe techniques to date. "Both techniques are performed with minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery, which favors a less annoying postoperative period and a quick recovery, since the patient can leave the hospital 36 hours after the intervention," says Dr. Sala.

In cases where the patient is not a candidate for any type of surgery, Chirónsalud experts recommend going to the Nutrition and Endocrinology specialist to supervise the patient during weight loss.