In a reputable piece published by Medical News Today, doctors from the University of Adelaide linked obesity directly with depression. Specifically, Dr. Evan Atlantis goes on to state “Although the topic is largely unexplored, several psychosocial, lifestyle and physiological factors may be involved in the complex inter-relationship between obesity and mental illness…”

Subsequent feelings of low self esteem, low self worth, and guilt often contribute greatly to a person’s every day eating habits. Dr. Atlantis goes on with stating, “Obesity may constitute a chronic stressful state, which in turn can cause significant physiological dysfunction. Such dysfunction would then predispose individuals to depressed mood and associated symptoms.” Ultimately, this dysfunction would activate the endocannabinoid system, which in turn, increases appetite and may all together alleviate depression.

Some of the most comment causes of obesity in the world today are:

• Diet
• Lifestyle
• Metabolism
• Genetics/Heredity
• Emotions
• Lack of Sleep
• Medications
• Diseases

This domino affect allows many people to dig themselves holes; leading to weight gain and depression. It’s not an easy task to eliminate excessive fat due to depressive symptoms.

Concurrently, the person finds him/herself having to overcome depression AND lose weight. As challenging as a task this may sound, people still have options.

This condition that already produces several health problems that cause many to seek help via weight-loss procedures from centers like MetropolitanMD (a Chicago liposuction and cosmetic surgery center that employs some of the best plastic surgeons Chicago has to offer). However, before consulting with a surgeon, individuals should look to natural weight loss practices, such as exercise and diet.

Instinctively enough, those who suffer from depressive systems tend to be inactive, which in turn leads to weight problems. It’s important to remember to stay as active as possible; this includes more than simply going for a run four days a week. Engaging in every day conversation with friends, family, and coworkers is great way to avoid depression. This would fall directly under lifestyle, but can directly affect one’s mood.

Mood swings are common for those suffering with depression and can be caused by a lack of communication and relationships with others. Remember, the easiest way to stay healthy is to surround one’s self with healthy people, subsequently creating a much healthier environment to live in.

Behavioral traits have a tendency to spread like wildfire within a group, so it’s greatly important to remove yourself from an unhealthy situation. It’s equally important to pay close attention to any type of medication that you may be on; side effects could potentially lead to disease, lack of sleep or a sudden change in diet. Moreover, this could all lead to an increase in weight.

Emotional stability is important in any person’s life, and will directly affect their lifestyle. Combined with the above, this has the potential to be a lethal underlying cause for obesity. It’s quite easy to notice the correlation amongst the causes/symptoms of depression and obesity. The best way to avoid this growing epidemic is to take preventative action. Remember to stay healthy and help promote healthy habits by influencing others to do the same.

Rachelle Holmes of plastic surgeons Chicago, MetropolitanMD

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Over the last few years, there has been a rise in the use of gastric surgery to help people lose weight. Liposuction is also a popular way to lose weight quickly. However both these options sometimes fail to address underlying issues and as many as a fifth of people may put the weight back on.

A new experimental technique in the US may help to tackle obesity through the use of deep brain stimulation (DBS). Deep brain stimulation is already used in the treatment of movement disorders such as Parkinson’s and dystonia however researchers believe that it may also help tackle obesity.

With overweight patients, the DBS targets the hypothalamus, the area of the brain which controls the desire to eat. By stimulating the right area, the patient should feel full and therefore stop eating. This new approach is currently being test in the US.

This new weight-loss procedure is not for the faint-hearted. Patients are given a local anaesthetic and have holes drilled in their skull before electrodes are implanted through these holes. Wires attached to the electrodes are fed across the surface of the brain and under the skin to a tiny battery which is implanted under the collarbone.

Local rather than general anaesthetic is used so that surgeons can guide the electrodes to the right place. During the operation surgeons will ask the patient whether they feel full or not so that they know whether the electrodes have been position correctly or not.

Two patients have had this radical surgery so far and the early indication is that the technique works – so far, both are said to be eating less and losing weight.

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Similar to current procedures, this creates a smaller stomach pouch helping patients feel full more quickly after eating, and also helping them to eat less.

This new form of obesity surgery has already been tested on around 300 patients – 200 in America and 100 in Europe, and initial results from the surgery are said to be promising with European test subjects said to have lost an average of around 45% of their body weight in the 18 months since their obesity surgery. This means that this form of obesity surgery actually has slightly better results than standard stomach stapling.

The final results for this new form of obesity surgery are due in 2010 and if successful, the technique will be submitted for approval by the FDA and other medical boards around the world.

This form of stomach stapling has different risks to the surgery currently performed today. Although these is less risk of infection and blood clots as no cuts are made, there is the risk of the tube perforating the oesophagus.

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The Zerona laser fat removal procedure works by using a low-level Erchnoia laser (which is also used in liposuction and in the treatment of acne) to emit cold laser energy into the areas with problem fat. The fat is said to be broken down by the laser pulses and channelled out of the body naturally. It is claimed that using this laser fat removal technique, patients can expect to see a loss of up to nine inches in the affected area.

The pilot studies showed that patients could lose up to nine inches after their first set of treatments with the average loss being five to six inches in just two weeks. No side effects were reported. Many people were excited by the news of the Zerona laser fat removal technique because it means weight loss without the pain of diet or exercise, and it is a non-invasive procedure therefore there is no recovery time after treatment.

However there are no long-term studies on the effects of using the laser in this manner so it is unknown what the long-term side effects, if any, are of this technique. There is also no research to show whether patients kept the inches off or whether the fat regained the inches in the short-term.

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Weight loss from gastric bypass operations is not expected to kick in for a few weeks however the patient found an unexpected side-effect the day after surgery – instead of his normal 130 units of insulin, he needed just 15 units to control his blood sugar levels. Within a fortnight, he had stopped injecting insulin altogether and was on just two tablets a day to help control his diabetes.

Diabetes is a condition that affects many people and there is a greater chance of getting diabetes if you are obese. The recommended treatment is weight loss and exercise, with drug treatments for those who don’t respond. For some who struggle to lose the weight, they may turn to gastric bypass surgery.

The interesting side effect is possible down to the weight loss surgery resetting the metabolism. It is theorized that the surgery kick-starts the pancreas making it release more insulin as well as making the cells in the body more sensitive to insulin.

Aside from curing or improving diabetes, gastric bypass operations can also help reduce blood pressure and reduce the levels of dangerous fats in the bloodstream. With some patients seeing immediate reductions in their diabetes symptoms, some researchers are wondering if weight reduction surgery could become a common option for treating diabetes – a recent study showed that 75% of patients who went in for a gastric bypass operation with diabetes saw their diabetes go into remission after surgery, compared with just 10% of those on conventional treatments.

The worry here is that people will see gastric bypass surgery as the ‘cure’ for diabetes and scientists have warned that diabetes cannot be cured, merely managed and that gastric bypass surgery is major cosmetic surgery and therefore carries great risks and should only be considered as a last resort for losing weight.

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