Am I A Candidate?
Who Should Consider Weight Loss Surgery?
Your Body Mass Index is the first thing that you need to know to determine whether or not you qualify for weight loss surgery of any kind. The criteria used in the United States are those provided by the National Institutes of Health Consensus Panel.
Enter your height and weight below to determine your BMI:
To qualify for surgery, you must fall into one of two categories:
- BMI of 40 Kg/M2, or higher.
- BMI of 35 Kg/M2 or higher, with obesity related medical problems such as High Blood Pressure, Type II Diabetes, Sleep Apnea, severe cases of Arthritis, Acid Reflux Disease, Low Back and Joint Pain.
One important point that I would like to make is that most people who have Sleep Apnea don't have any idea that they have it. In my experience, it is the most common obesity related diagnosis that I find to be missed by primary care doctors. Most of my patients who had Sleep Apnea prior to surgery probably had it for years before it was diagnosed in the pre-operative screening process.
Research shows that 98% of men and 93% of women who have a BMI over 40 have Sleep Apnea. This is to say that if you are morbidly obese, the likelihood that you have it is quite high, and in most cases this qualifies you for surgery, even in the absence of other illnesses.
Please understand that the above criteria are initial screening tools and that every patient's suitability needs to be evaluated on an individual basis.
