Developing healthy eating habits and staying active are great ways to support your whole health, but when it comes to losing weight, our bodies can sometimes use a little extra help.
Christian Birkedal, MD, Director of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery at AdventHealth Daytona Beach, is here to help you understand the differences between medical and surgical weight loss.
Achieving a Better Quality of Life
Your weight plays a pivotal role in your quality of life. Heart disease, diabetes, dementia, kidney disease, cirrhosis of the liver, cancers, arthritis, autoimmune diseases and other conditions are all linked to excessive weight. “The most important thing patients can do to improve their quantity and quality of life is lose weight,” explains Dr. Birkedal.
If you’re considering medical or surgical weight loss, our experts can help answer questions as you consider the right option. “We don’t try and talk anyone into a surgery or medicine they don’t want. Positive change happens when we want it, and success comes from making meaningful long-term dietary and exercise choices,” shares Dr. Birkedal.
Factors to Consider When Choosing Medical or Surgical Weight Loss
When considering your weight-loss options, many factors come into play, and what’s right for one person may not work for another. Here are three important factors to help you make your decision:
How Much Weight You Want to Lose
Dr. Birkedal explains the top consideration when deciding between surgical and medical weight loss is the amount of weight you want to lose. “GLP-1s (glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists) are great to lose 30 to 50 pounds,” he shares. “For patients who need to lose more than that, GLP-1s aren’t ideal.” Most patients typically plateau around that 40-to-50-pound mark. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), anyone with a body mass index over 40 would greatly benefit from weight-loss surgery rather than GLP-1s.
For patients looking for more substantial weight loss who may not be ready for surgery, Dr. Birkedal recommends starting with GLP-1s and considering surgical weight loss after a few months of medication:
“Surgery is a life-altering decision. You can stop GLP-1s at any moment, whereas surgery is essentially permanent. Not every patient is emotionally ready for surgery, and that’s fine. GLP-1 is a good way to start the process, and you can always switch and choose surgery later.”
The decision is yours, and your care team will support you and offer guidance no matter which path you decide to take.
The Long-and Short-Term Cost
Another factor to consider is the cost. Typically, insurance plans will not approve bariatric surgery and provide partial or full coverage unless a person falls into one of the following categories:
- Has a BMI over 40
- Has a BMI over 35 and medical issues related to obesity
Most insurance companies don’t cover GLP-1s for weight loss, but those that do may also approve surgical weight loss for patients with a BMI between 30 and 35.
GLP-1s can cost between $400 and $1300 out of pocket per month, and many patients need to maintain long-term usage for lasting weight loss.
Compared to GLP-1s, surgery is far less expensive because you’re paying for it once and you get the tool for the rest of your life. For the GLP-1s, you’re paying every week or month for the medications.
Long-Term Effects
Lasting weight loss after bariatric surgery requires lasting lifestyle changes. For example, Dr. Birkedal explains, “Patients have to focus on protein and take their bariatric vitamins for life. If they used to smoke, they can’t anymore.”
“With medical weight loss, typically, once a patient stops the medicine, any side effects they experience go away. There have been over 10 million prescriptions of GLP-1s written over the past decade with very few minor side effects like constipation, nausea and extraordinarily few long-term issues.
No matter which path you choose, your doctor will work with you to monitor your whole health, throughout every stage of your treatment.
Achieve a Healthy Weight With Our Whole Team by Your Side
If you’re considering medical or surgical weight loss, our bariatric care team will get to know you, your unique health history and your goals to help you determine which weight-loss method can meet your needs best.
