ABSTRACT
Obesity has become a major health problem in the United States. The annual health-care expenditures for obesity-related diseases in the United States have increased from $39 billion in 1993 to more than $75 billion and represent more than 5 percent of total annual health-care costs. In 1998, the National Institutes of Health established federal guidelines for the identification, evaluation, and treatment of overweight and obese adults. Surgery is recommended for patients who are morbidly obese or for those who are severely obese with concomitant obesity-related diseases. The long-term results of the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass on weight loss and improvement in obesity-related comorbidities have been described by a number of authors. Biliopancreatic bypass is an effective operation for morbid obesity, however, long-term studies regarding nutritional and drug malabsorption are lacking. There is significant work looking into gastric pacing/stimulation to help induce satiety and provide for weight loss.
