In Spain morbid obesity has increased by 200%, according to a study by the Spanish Society of Cardiology. Specifically, in 1993 is reported having this condition 1.8 of every 1,000 inhabitants, while in 2006 the figure increased to 6.1.
This is a serious public health problem that surely will increase if effective interventions are not made. In most cases morbid obesity is due to a lack of education and social culture, where food is very poor in quality. According to many specialists, health authorities should go for a strong intervention at national level to raise awareness in considering this problem as a disease. Among the health consequences, morbid obesity not only leads to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, joint problems or respiratory apnoea but also has an impact on social exclusion. One of the most effective solutions for this disease is the gastric bypass surgery. It is a procedure to treat morbid obesity that first divides the stomach into a small upper pouch and a much larger lower "remnant" pouch and then re-arranges the small intestine to connect to both.
“From my 124 Kg I managed several times to drop to 100-105 Kg, but I never managed to remain at that weight”.
This is the reason why Sandra, a 31 year old Spaniard, decided to go for this long and tough process. One year waiting in the public health system going through nutritional group sessions, psychiatrist interviews and different medical exams and of course the deal to lose at least 10 Kg before the surgery.
When I asked Sandra why she did it, she told me that she didn’t want to have health problems in the future and also because she wanted to be accepted by society.
The first signs of obesity began to emerge when Sandra was twelve years old and then consolidate at the age twenty when she overtake 100Kg.
At twenty-nine years of age she was already 124kg.
"I've never had a complex of aesthetics, but I have always been aware of health problems."
When Sandra found out about the possibility of surgery, she began to realize that the result might have been reached. It has cost her a lot to decide, but at the end she decided to be enrolled at the Hospital del Mar’s program. Despite having several people in the family who disagreed with her decision, she got the unconditional support of her mother.
Sandra succeed to reach the goal as she has lost almost 55 kg and now she is on her way to a new life, though she'll still on the process.
From the beginning of the program in 2004, in the Hospital del Mar 350 patients went under surgery and even if not all of them managed to reduce significantly their weight, the entire number of patients got much better in terms of health problems like diabetes, cholesterol, cardiovascular disease.
According to the experience accumulated during the years at the Hospital del Mar, 70-80% of the patients are women with an average of age of 43 years, even is the range is between 18 and 60 years of age.
Beside there are many different typologies of patients, normally morbid obesity in the western world is associated with lower socioeconomic and educational levels.