Gastric balloon only a “crutch” for overweight patients

Those who suffer from morbid obesity look for quick solutions. The use of a gastric balloon promises such a quick solution. However, such a gastric balloon is nothing more than a “crutch” in the treatment of obesity. The obesity experts at Swiss1Chirurgie, the Centre for Bariatric Surgery ZfbC and the Gastroenterology Group Practice Bern know this. In the detailed article, the benefits of bariatric surgery are contrasted with the rapid effects of a gastric balloon. Here is the full report.

The gastric balloon – the best way to cheat yourself?

Why a gastric balloon is the worse alternative to bariatric surgery?

Those who suffer permanently from severe overweight and feel stigmatised by their social environment often look for quick solutions to reduce their body weight. People affected by obesity and the associated concomitant and secondary diseases want effective measures and treatments to change their life situation. The so-called gastric balloon promises such a quick remedy. Without any surgical intervention, without restrictive diets, in the wrong perception and even without a change in exercise behaviour, a quick weight reduction could be achieved with a gastric balloon. But the first impression is just as deceptive as the first successes.

How the gastric balloon works

The gastric balloon promises quick success in losing weight. Find out why this is only half the truth in the detailed article by the obesity experts at Swiss1Chirurgie.

The gastric balloon is usually inserted into the stomach by means of gastroscopy and filled with a saline solution in the same procedure. Recently, some centres have also been promoting a “swallowable” version – the balloon is swallowed and filled via a tube – without the need for a gastroscopy. This installs a foreign body in the stomach that significantly reduces the stomach volume available for food intake.

As a result, a feeling of satiety is produced even after eating comparatively small amounts of food, but this can be very deceptive. Because of this early onset of satiety, many patients think they can lose weight quickly, easily and permanently with the intragastric balloon without surgery. However, this is often accompanied by complaints such as nausea and frequent vomiting, which indirectly help to lose weight in a rather unpleasant way.

In fact, there are reports that the gastric balloon can be used to lose ten to 25 kilograms over a reasonable period of time. It should be remembered, however, that efficient weight loss attempts are less about quantity and more about the quality of the food. Anyone who consumes very high-calorie drinks, fatty foods or a lot of sugar-heavy food to satisfy their needs after the insertion of a gastric balloon will not automatically achieve success even with the reduced mass. Without a consistent change in diet and exercise, attempts to lose weight are hardly successful in the long term, even with the gastric balloon. Especially since a gastric balloon can only ever be used temporarily.

Self-deception with a system

Experts in the treatment of obesity speak of self-deception with a system when favouring a gastric balloon for weight reduction. After all, such a gastric balloon is a foreign body in the stomach and at best something like a crutch in the treatment of obesity. And a crutch is not a leg on which you can stand safely.

It is also worth considering that the gastric balloon is not a permanent solution. Depending on the quality, such a gastric balloon can remain in the stomach for a maximum of 3, 6 or, more recently, 12 months and must then be removed. Although a new intragastric balloon can be placed immediately, this only continues the actual self-deception.

From the reports of those affected, it can also be learned that in addition to some good successes, a large number of negative experiences can also be registered. This ranges from persistent nausea to spontaneous vomiting to an unpleasant feeling of fullness, which does not contribute to the patients’ well-being. If the intragastric balloon is worn for the recommended maximum period of six months, there is a risk that the balloon will lose the saline solution, which in itself is not tragic. Much more dangerous is that the then flaccid envelope of the balloon can migrate into the intestine and lead to a dangerous intestinal obstruction.

Bariatric surgery is the better methodology

Given the problems associated with the use of a gastric balloon, bariatric surgery is the better option in the vast majority of cases in patients with BMI over 30 kg/m2 with diabetes, or in patients with BMI over 35 kg/m2 without diabetes. The preferred methods are stomach reduction by forming a tube stomach or gastric bypass. Such interventions aim to consistently and permanently reduce the volume of the stomach or to virtually bypass the stomach. Both methods involve surgical procedures, but these are now performed as minimally invasive laporoscopic operations. In addition to the bariatric operations, further therapeutic offers are provided with the aim of achieving and securing long-term success in weight reduction. This means that in the vast majority of cases, surgical intervention is the better, more reliable and permanently more successful way to treat morbid obesity in the long term.

When the use of a gastric balloon can be useful

Even if a gastric balloon does not appear to be a target for long-term weight reduction, it can still be a sensible temporary solution in individual cases. For example, if a surgical intervention is not (yet) an option because of a very high excess weight. Then the gastric balloon can help to achieve a weight reduction that makes surgery possible. But that’s all.

If we consider once again that the intragastric balloon is basically a foreign body that can only be used temporarily and is ultimately only a “crutch” for weight loss, the intragastric balloon is ruled out as a long-term and efficient solution to the problem of obesity.

Counselling ensures best treatment results

Anyone who is confronted with the physical, social and psychological impairments caused by morbid obesity should seek specialist medical advice and professional care. A good place to start may be the Swiss1Chirurgie clinics, the Centre for Bariatric Surgery ZfbC or the Gastroenterology Group Practice in Bern. Here, patients are advised in detail, individually and openly about the chances, risks and possibilities of permanent weight reduction. Obesity experts are always concerned with long-term solutions and less with quick but less reliable success.

In a special consultation at Swiss1Chirurgie, patients also learn in which rather rare cases the temporary use of a gastric balloon in preparation for bariatric surgery can be useful. At the same time, however, it is always made clear that the use of a gastric balloon can never be the permanently helpful solution to a pathological obesity problem.

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Stigmatisation Obesity. What does that mean?

Dr. med. Jörg Zehetner on the problem of obesity and what it means for those affected.

As part of the lecture series of Helvetius Holding AG, Dr. med. Jörg Zehetner, Professor USC, took a stand on the stigmatisation of overweight people and the resulting consequences for those affected. In his lecture in the Saaser-Stube Saas-Fee, the experienced physician, who also deals intensively with obesity problems, described the circumstances that obesity patients have to live with practically every day.

They are among us

At the beginning of the lecture, Dr Zehetner made it clear that practically everyone knows the overweight. In one’s own family, in one’s circle of friends or in the circle of colleagues, they exist everywhere and the number of those affected is constantly increasing. And the lives of patients with obesity are not easy.

Where stigmatisation begins

Look at the fat guy! Oh, she’s fat. The fat man should exercise more. Look what he’s got in his shopping basket, and he’s already fat enough.

This is how the stigmatisation of overweight people begins. Without asking why or wherefore, without taking into account how people are personally affected, they are consciously or unconsciously pigeonholed into a category in which they neither belong nor can free themselves from it. Besides the flippant remarks, there are also those that really hurt and don’t help the people concerned at all.

Reduce prejudices

Anyone who has studied the problems of obesity and adiposity in depth knows that those affected suffer greatly from their current life situation. A first step towards at least reducing this unfortunate situation would be to dismantle popular prejudices. It’s always the best moment for that.

The fight against obesity requires a professional network

Hardly any overweight person with a serious problem will be able to successfully face the disease alone in the long term. Even though overweight surgery is now a proven and successful means of fighting the extra pounds, it requires targeted networking before, during and after the medical intervention. For this purpose, a professional network has been established under the umbrella of Helvetius Holding AG, which provides advice, support and assistance to patients in all phases.

Large social alliance against stigmatisation necessary

The topic of obesity is present everywhere. Not only in everyday life, but also in the media, people are encountering this topic more and more frequently and intensively, in addition to the commonly known jokes and remarks about being overweight. From stigmatisation, the path to discrimination is usually a very short one. Obese people are associated with a conceptual world that is anything but pleasant or appreciative. Especially when you don’t know these people personally. This stigmatisation extends far into the personal and social lives of those affected. Even professional life is not excluded. To change this, a large social consensus is needed.

Steps out of stigmatisation

If the spiral of stigmatisation and discrimination against overweight people is to be broken, a clear line is needed. And this begins precisely where obesity is understood as a disease and thus also as treatable and curable. Only then can an active approach be made to these people, who can then actively face their problems themselves without having to continue to hide.

A further step would be to significantly rethink the approach to these patients. And in every area of life and in every encounter with overweight people. Only when the stigma is taken away from these people will they themselves be able to actively enter into the process of their recovery. Dignity, respect and tolerance are exactly the right keywords here.

It is important to also perceive overweight people as valuable members of our society and to recognise that they are not lazy, sedentary, unpleasant and low performers, but sick. And something can be done about diseases, including morbid obesity.

Define obesity as a disease

Anyone who takes a closer look at overweight and obesity will quickly be able to understand them as actual diseases. As with any organic disease, there are clear definitions and developments, but also therapeutic interventions that clearly speak for a clinical picture. A first indication of this is the division into different classifications of overweight, starting from the Body Mass Index, BMI.

Although obesity surgery is a helpful intervention, it does not by itself solve the problem. Being morbidly overweight is and remains a chronic disease that requires lifelong attention, but not disparaging stigmatisation.

More in-depth information on the topic is available in the video recording of the lecture (LINK) and directly on the Swiss1Chirurgie website.

Beer belly – men and the trivialisation of overweight

Whether at the football pitch or in the bar, men don’t hide their beer belly, but the 10-15kg overweight is proudly carried in front of them. No one should make fun of it, but the topic must be addressed and discussed with sensitivity. People like to keep quiet about their supposed beer belly, even at the doctor’s, even at physiotherapy or during sports.

“Male obesity”. This cannot simply be categorised as “gluttony” or “self-indulgence”. Male obesity has as many causes as it has manifestations. It primarily affects men from middle age onwards, who (like women) are undergoing a particular type of metabolic change.

Recording from 3.9.2021 ” Saaserhof” in Saas-Fee Overweight: Beer Belly & Love Dumbbells as a Danger? by J. Zehetner, MD

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More on upcoming events & recordings: https://www.helvetiusholding.ch/helvetius-life-streaming-2021/

Particularly with increasing age, the body strives for developmental reasons to store food reserves as fat reserves, so to speak, in order to provide for possible shortages. Especially for men who consume fewer calories than they take in due to their occupation or limited exercise, this quickly leads to unwanted excess weight. Organic processes in particular play an important role here, which cannot be “switched off” so easily.

While there is often talk of dieting and smaller portions, the topic of alcohol and alcohol consumption is talked down, ridiculed and negated, especially among men. However, liquid foods such as beer and wine contain many hidden calories that are not readily counted. The energy drinks that have become fashionable, various shakes and also protein shakes (although healthy) are also energy suppliers and usually high in calories. Fruit juices and smoothies in particular are easily consumed on the side without thinking about how much sugar is being consumed.

Obesity is now more common than malnutrition worldwide. The real problem is predominantly to be observed in the western industrialised countries, since it is precisely here that there is an ever-increasing oversupply of food at all times. The obesity rate in the USA, for example, is around 35-40 percent of the population, which is a fact that should not be underestimated. This means an overweight of at least 20 kilograms, or a BMI of 30 or more. This is also the case despite the surgical intervention options, although these methods in particular can now be classified as very safe and successful. Nevertheless, the rate of surgical interventions needed in this particular area is far too low.

The topic of beer bellies – as the starting point of the discussion – is not only about informing the population and professional colleagues accordingly. Rather, I see it as important to educate about the modern treatment options of bariatric treatment methods up to surgery. The primary aim is always to help patients according to their individual starting situation.

Information on the topic of obesity

It is important to understand that obesity is always associated with concomitant diseases. Diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnoea, high cholesterol – all these manifest themselves in the environment of obesity. But there is also another aspect that has emerged, especially in recent years. The point is that people who are overweight are simply stigmatised. At school, at work and even in private life, overweight people are described as lazy, fat, greedy, careless and lazy about exercise. This puts additional stress on those affected and does not help to tackle the problem in a targeted and conscious way. Significant overweight has been defined as a disease since 2013 at the latest. This puts morbid obesity in the same category as diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and many other chronic diseases.

The stigmatisation of obesity is extremely dangerous for patients, as they then withdraw and cannot address their actual problem in a targeted and active way. Professional treatment, counselling and support is the surest way out of obesity.

Everyone is challenged to exercise some restraint in their contact with morbidly obese people, both in their choice of words and in their behaviour. Even if it’s “only” about the supposed beer belly.

Why specifically “men who are overweight”?

Yes, women also suffer from morbid obesity. But men do it in a special way. There are now “curvy models” for women, but not for men. And men by nature already tend to eat the slightly larger portions, even if that seems to be gradually declining. The world view was and still is such that a belly is always subconsciously associated with prosperity. Also in modern industrial societies. The dangers are mostly conscious, but are only realised when they are actually there, visible and sometimes already tangible.

In addition, after a certain stage of life at the latest, men do not have this special view of their appearance that many women have. The actual problem is not recognised, or is recognised only very late, and is then gladly accepted as natural. This means that they don’t have to go to the doctor, and the obesity surgeon is an unknown quantity for many of those affected. Therefore, men in particular must be sensitised to actively face this problem.

What starts with a beer belly that is not taken seriously often ends in an overweight catastrophe, unless the right steps are taken in time, for example to a Swiss1Chirurgie clinic.

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