When, a few months ago, it became public knowledge that Fern Britton had undergone gastric bypass surgery there was a public outcry that she had somehow ‘cheated’ in her attempts to lose weight. The media accused her of taking an ‘easy' option rather than the more traditional weight loss treatments. The fact that Britton took considerable amounts of exercise, something shown by her commitment to running in public, was barely mentioned. Neither was the fact that the surgery that Britton underwent, a gastric bypass, is a dangerous procedure with a very real chance of compilations and even death. The procedure is not something that would be undertaken lightly and is a last resort after all other weight loss treatments have failed.
In January Channel Four screened a documentary with one of the offensive headline grabbing titles that seem to now be the norm for many documentaries. Half Ton Mum told the story of Renee Williams, who weighed in at 64 stone before passing away on the operating table undergoing gastric bypass surgery. Of course the risks were far greater for Williams than for Britton but show the desperation that makes some people undergo such drastic procedures to lose weight.
Although, sadly, arriving too late to help Williams, there was exciting news this week regarding an obese patient in New York City who has undergone a pioneering procedure and received incision free weight loss surgery. Two doctors, Marc Bessler and Daniel Davis performed the TOGA Procedure (Transoral Gastroplasty). The procedure involves inserting a device into the patient’s stomach that dramatically reduces the amount of food that they are able to consume before they feel full. The difference between this operation and the one which was performed on Britton and Williams is the fact that the device was inserted into the stomach through the mouth, no incisions were made. This new technique results in less pain, a far quicker recovery time and decreased complications as well a lack of scarring. This is good news for people who are too large to safely undergo surgery that involves cutting into the stomach. It marks yet another major advance in the treatment of morbid obesity.