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Obesity About 7 million in Germany because of obesity in therapy
More and more Germans are obese: In 2014, around seven million people in Germany had to be treated for obesity. Compared to 2006, this was an increase of 14 percent. Many patients have their stomach contracted. This is clear from the current hospital report of Barmer GEK.
Strong overweight endangers the health
Strong overweight (obesity) makes you sick. Obesity is a risk factor for many civilization diseases. Particularly noteworthy here are diseases of the vessels and the cardiovascular system such as high blood pressure, coronary heart disease or arteriosclerosis (arteriosclerosis). Obesity also increases the risk of arthritis, diabetes and cancers.
More and more Germans go for obesity in medical treatment. Many of them make the stomach smaller. (Image: Kurhan / fotolia.com) More and more Germans can be treated for obesity
According to health experts, even a minimal weight reduction would have a clear positive effect. In addition to a healthy, low-calorie and low-fat diet, sport would be very helpful here. This not only burns calories, but drives out the constant hunger, as scientists recently reported in the journal "Medicine and Science In Sports and Exercise". However, although most sufferers realize that their body weight has a negative impact on their health, many find it difficult to lose weight. The number of Germans who seek medical treatment for obesity is rising. This is shown by the current hospital report of Barmer GEK.
Number of operations has multiplied
According to a report from the health insurance fund, in 2014 alone, around seven million people had to be treated for obesity in medical practices, which is 14 percent more than in 2006. Of these, more and more have had their weight loss surgery done. According to the information, the number of so-called bariatric surgeries (surgical treatments for obesity) has increased more than sixfold in the same period for the insured of Barmer GEK and more than five times for all health insurances.
Gastric surgery should be ultima ratio
Gastric surgery is often used as a last resort in obesity. The CEO of Barmer, Dr. med. Christoph Straub, said: "A bariatric surgery should be used as ultima ratio. If bariatric surgery is unavoidable, it should only be done in a certified center, as it has a very high quality standard and is safer there. "The report suggests surgery in a center operated by the German Society for General and Visceral Surgery (DGAV) is certified.
Interventions in certified centers cheaper
"In a certified clinic, the complications of a bariatric surgery are lower than in a conventional hospital, and the risk of death is reduced by 15 percent," said the author of the report, Professor Boris Augurzky. In addition, the interventions in the certified centers are cheaper. But with a bariatric surgery alone, it is far from complete. Straub called on the clinics to develop near-residential aftercare concepts with private practitioners: "After an obesity operation, close and interdisciplinary follow-up care should always be provided. For a bariatric surgery can have serious consequences such as a life-threatening nutrient deficiency. "
Increased mortality rate
Since such an intervention carries both opportunities and risks, eligible patients should be chosen very carefully. "On the one hand, after a procedure patients are much less likely to be hospitalized because of type 2 diabetes mellitus, sleep disorders and high blood pressure than comparable people without surgery. On the other hand, after bariatric surgery, patients are more likely to be hospitalized for gallstones, digestive system diseases, and entrails, "said Augurzky. In addition, in the first four years after surgery, the death rate in operated versus unoperated patients increased by 7.7 percent.
Additional costs for the contributors
Finally, it states in the statement of the health insurance company that an operation should also be well considered for financial reasons. If all obese were operated on nationwide with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more, the statutory health insurance would therefore receive about € 14.4 billion extra expenditure in the short term. Augurzky warned: "In obesity surgery threatens massive additional costs, which would have to shoulder the contributors in the end. This is all the more worrying because bariatric surgery is lucrative for clinics and therefore tends to be more and more invasive. "(Ad)