Losing any amount of the excess unwanted weight is always beneficial. It is known that losing about 10 percent weight has benefits like improved blood pressure and improvement of diabetes, provided the weight loss is maintained.
The other truth is that in many patients with morbid obesity, 10% weight loss may not be enough. There are many weight-related comorbidities like osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, spine diseases, and pain, etc. These comorbidities are reversed only after almost 70% of excess weight loss.
Weight loss may be just a number but for many patients, it is a necessity for better self-esteem and psychological satisfaction. Hence, we have seen that bariatric surgery can improve self-esteem and psychological well being. In addition to expecting to look and feel the best, patients also appreciate reversal of diabetes, pain relief, and relief from breathlessness after bariatric surgery.
Hence, it can be said that weight loss is beneficial for blood pressure and diabetes but is mainly useful for those with obesity of grade one or less than that. For those with morbid obesity, a small amount of weight loss may be useful to some extent but not enough. The most important key is maintaining a weight loss of 10 percent and is exceedingly difficult not only for those with morbid obesity but for everyone; the reasons being the body’s physiology and hormones.
