Whereas programs like 60 Minutes in the US and most newspapers run completely uncritical "infomercials" for gastric bypass surgery, inflating its benefits and ignoring the often terrible consequences for people who have had the procedure, it takes a TV drama to actually deal with the more complicated and disturbing truth.
For those of you who might be interested, Junkfood Science has a series of articles on bariatric surgery including The Other Side of the Story Parts I & II (listed on the right hand side of the page, just scroll down) which was written in response to a hopelessly simplistic and positive treatment of it by CBS's 60 minutes, which includes details of a man who had the surgery and who's life was ruined by it. Yes, he'd lost weight, but all his teeth had fallen out, he was down to the last four foods he could eat without vomiting or passing out and had to continually go into hospital to have his electrolytes rebalanced.
He said every day he felt less healthy.
As Sandy from Junkfood Science points out, even the 'father' of bariatric surgery, Dr Edward Mason, has sounded the warning about the use of increasingly invasive procedures and their side effects.
Here's the opening paragraphs of her post:
The writers of House MD on Fox-TV did a public service last night. Unlike most television shows, House continues to punch through popular stereotypes about fat
people and take on obesity sacred cows with that cutting, impudent honesty that only Dr. Gregory House can get away with. Last night’s drama, weaved a difficult story line with subplots of humor and sexual tension and even medical ethics. Simultaneously, it brought an important educational message to bariatric surgery
patients and medical professionals that no other media has dared to touch.
Like all entertaining television, everything on House moves faster than life and teeters at the brink of reality. But while the diagnostic investigations are sensational, the underlying message last night was genuine.
Full post here http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2008/12/chocolate-cake-and-important-message.html
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