Obesity is a disease. This can be controlled with surgery but requires lifestyle changes and long term commitment. Dedicated people can lose significant weight and achieve greater than 80% of their desired goal.

Diabetes is uncontrolled blood sugar.  Depending on the surgery diabetes can be controlled or improved from 50-90%.

Hypertension is high blood pressure and is linked to obesity.  If uncontrolled, high blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and peripheral vascular disease. Bariatric can improve or cure high blood from 50-90%.

Reflux is associated with obesity. People have greater than three times the risk of heartburn. This can lead to esophageal damage or dysfunction. Losing weight can reduce heartburn symptoms. However, reflux can occur from hiatal hernias. This can be diagnosed with imaging or by endoscopy.

Obstructive sleep apnea can cause heart failure and a known risk for death.  Losing weight directly relieves stress on the heart.  Weight loss of just 10-15% can reduce the severity of OSA by 50% in moderately obese patients. Sleep apnea scores can improve by greater than 30%.

Hyperlipidemia is a high concentration of fats or lipids in the blood. Hyperlipidemia can lead to heart disease and stroke.  Every additional 10lbs overweight can produce as much as 10mg of cholesterol per day.  This condition can be controlled with bariatric surgery.

The gallbladder collects bile and breaks down fat.  A high fat or cholesterol diet can cause dysfunction, called dyskinesia, or develop gallstones especially in women.  Approximately, 5-10% of post op bariatric surgery may require gallbladder surgery, called cholecystectomy.