Bariatric surgery and diabetes.

Obesity is a relatively new and serious world-wide epidemic. Obesity is a stronger predictor in mortality than either poverty or smoking, and obesity is also now more prevalent than malnutrition. The prevalence of obesity continues to increase, ironically, the rate of increase of obesity is highest amongst the morbidly obesity. Obesity is the result of many factors resulting in concert, including poor dietary habits, reduced physical activity and genetic predisposition. With the rapid increase in obesity there has been a pronounced increase in obesity-related metabolic disorders including type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and many others. These co-morbidities are responsible for more than 2.5 million deaths, worldwide. The loss of life expectancy due to obesity is profound. In comparison to a normal weight individual Caucasian, a 25-year-old morbidly obese man has a 22% reduction in the expected remaining life span, representing an approximate loss of 12 years of life.