Genetics Reveal A Possible Cause For Failing To Lose Weight After Gastric Bypass Surgery

Gastric bypass surgery is proving to be a lifesaver for a lot of people as the problem of obesity continues to sweep across the western world but its biggest problem lies in the fact that a significant number of people either fail to lose a reasonable amount of weight following surgery or go on to regain much of the weight which is lost.

There are of course various explanations for this failure to lose weight or to regain weight and top of the list in undoubtedly the fact that all too many people just find it too hard to make the lifestyle adjustments needed following surgery and eat themselves back to obesity. However, scientists have now identified a genetic component which might explain some people's failure to lose weight following gastric bypass surgery.

In a recent study which involved over 700 severely obese patients blood samples were taken to test for the presence of two single nucleotide polymorphisma (SNPs). In simple terms a SNP is a sequence of human DNA, variations of the pattern in which may indicate how people will develop diseases and also respond to such things as drugs and vaccines. Without going into the details of this study which are complicated to say the least, the scientists discovered that about 20% of the people studied showed a combination of particular SNPs which indicate they are at risk of not simply failing to lose weight following weight loss surgery, but might actually be at risk of putting on weight.

The problem we are facing today is not primarily that of finding an answer for those people who suffer from obesity, but of stopping obesity to start with and this is essentially a matter of education. There is no question that a small number of people are prone to obesity and genetics and other similar factors could play a role in this. However, the vast majority of the obesity that we today arises out of little more than poor eating habits and a failure to take enough exercise.

The true problem however is that once people have reached it is simple human nature to look for any reason for their excessive weight which takes away that guilty feeling brought on by the fact that they may just have caused the problem themselves. Now what better excuse can you give someone than to say to them that it is not their fault but is genetic.

This is not to suggest that there is no foundation for the research into SNPs or to say that there is not a genetic link to the failure to lose weight or to put on weight after weight loss surgery. However, the danger is to release this data at too early a stage in the research process and to simply hand people yet another excuse for not dealing with their obesity at a time when obesity is at epidemic levels and most worrying of all is increasingly being found in children at earlier and earlier ages.

Research is important and must be given its place in the scheme of things but we have to be careful that it does not sidetrack us from the real need to deal with the problem of obesity by educating people to alter their eating habits and to take more exercise.

Article Source: http://www.orbitaloc.com/

GastricBypassFacts.info provides information on many aspects of obesity including use of the gastric bypass and popular techniques such as gastric lap band surgery.

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