In Medicine, Never Say Never

We all know that the obesity epidemic often seems like a never ending struggle, which is why the rise of bariatric surgery over the last twenty years has been such a ray of hope for so many people. At the same time, it's important for us in the medical community to not be cowed by thinking that some sort of medical achievement which, in theory, should be possible, is impossible because it just seems to difficult or even unlikely.

We're thinking, of course, about the new study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, documenting remissions in type 2 diabetes. In the past, type 2 diabetes has been thought primarily as a chronic disease that could be controlled, but not really put into remission, much less cured. However, looking at obesity surgery patients, researchers have found that about one-third of the patients actually did go into full-blown remission for a period of years.

This is a huge step that few would have predicted before fairly recently, even though bariatric procedures have been with us for decades now, and it's hardly the first time this has happened in medicine. Those of us who are old enough to remember the AIDS crisis know that the idea that an extremely deadly disease could be transformed into a manageable chronic illness seemed beyond remote, yet that's what happened.

In medicine, you really can't say "never" about anything that might be possible, and that definitely applies to individuals and weight loss. If you've tried repeatedly to lose weight and still find yourself severely obese and maybe with health complications directly related to it, now may be the time to stop saying "never" and explore weight loss surgery with Dr. Feiz. Feel free to give us a call to inquire about a free seminar at 800-868-5946.