People who undergo gastric bypass surgery may find themselves transferring one addiction -- their desire for food -- for another. Many of these surgery patients are ending up drowned in debt from overspending, depressed from becoming an alcoholic or are finding their lives in disarray from any number of other self-sabotaging addictions.

Gastric bypass surgery, which shrinks your stomach to the size of a walnut, makes it nearly impossible for former food “addicts” to overeat, but it does nothing to address the underlying behavior that drives a person to do something, anything, to excess.

“Transfer addictions” are now cropping up pervasively among the gastric bypass population as they search for something other than food -- drugs, alcohol, gambling, shopping and more -- to fill an emotional or physical void.

This surgery is clearly overlooking a major aspect of why people overeat in the first place -- emotional challenges -- and is in a sense throwing people to the wolves without giving them tools to overcome these  difficulties.

Aside from transfer addictions, other risks of gastric bypass surgery include:

• Dumping Syndrome
• Increased risk of death
• Malnutrition
• Bowel, liver and gallbladder problems
• Weakened bones

Please understand that if you opt to have surgery or take a pill to lose weight, you are not addressing the emotional side of the equation and are asking for serious trouble. Exercising and supporting your emotional well-being -- not just simply cutting down on the amount of food your stomach can hold -- are vital to any successful weight loss plan.

ABC News June 9, 2007

Her Daily News June 10, 2007