HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Bariatric surgery is also known as weight loss surgery, and Crestwood Medical Center Bariatric Surgeon Dr. Jay Suggs has big news they've been awaiting for 30 years. The guidelines to qualify for bariatric surgery have changed.
"The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery is finally come out with its long-awaited new guidelines in which that BMI criteria has gone down by about five points. So now one only needs a BMI of 35, which is in the morbid obesity range, to be able to qualify for bariatric surgery. " Dr. Suggs says bariatric surgery qualifications are based primarily on body mass index which takes into account one's height and weight, "not just 100 lbs. overweight, but somewhere between 70 and 150 lbs. overweight, but depending on how tall you are."
Dr. Suggs says also surgery can be offered to patients with a BMI as low as 30. "So 30 - 34.9 does need an obesity related comorbidity, but the comorbidity has become more liberal, such as it can be anything from severe acid reflux to type 2 diabetes to severe joint pain and arthritis. So we've opened it up literally to millions of more people who would qualify and benefit from bariatric surgery."
Bariatric surgery patient Shannon Layton says she didn't have any coexisting conditions before having bariatric surgery, and that's a part of the reason she reached out for help. "I did not have any comorbidities at the time, but I knew that I was headed that direction if I didn't get help."
Layton says she's lost about 115 lbs. since October of 2020. "I guess the highlight would be my mental health is so much better." Her experience since having her surgery has been so life changing and she says, "If you have the opportunity to do it and you have the weight to lose, I would encourage you to do it."