Extreme Weight Loss Measures

There's been a real surge in weight loss related surgeries in the last couple of years. There were over 170,000 gastric bypass operations performed last year and the number of liposuctions to suction localized fat from different parts of the body is skyrocketing each year.

Some people are even taking 'vacations' to go and get their fat suctioned out somewhere in the tropics. It seems very extreme, and there are serious health complications associated with many of these procedures, but it looks like it is a weight loss method that is here to stay. See Plastic Surgery: Show and Tell for the latest stories around this trend.

Magazines about Weight Loss Surgery

I was surprised to find out there is a magazine market devoted just to weight loss surgery. I didn't think there would be enough readers interested in this drastic option for weight loss.

There are at least two magazines that I've seen on Amazon. One is WLS Lifestyles (short for Weight Loss Surgery Lifestyles) and the other is called ObesityHelp. They claim to give unbiased facts about surgery for losing weight. For example, the publisher blurb about WLS says;

Dedicated to the pre- & post-operative bariatric surgery community. Our goal is to provide unbiased, medial-fact based information to those who are considering and/or have decided to change their lives with gastric bypass, lap band, duedonal switch or any other form of weight loss surgery.

I personally can't see how these magazines could portray an objective view of the risks associated with this surgery. They make their money from advertisements in the magazine, and I would assume it is mostly surgeons and weight loss surgery clinics that advertise there. How could they write detailed articles about the dangers involved and still maintain their advertising client base? Would you ever see a bad-news story about surgery gone wrong in one of these issues?

I haven't read either of these magazines but would appreciate any feedback people have about this.