Felix Bastajian loses 100 kilograms by bariatric surgery Felix Bastajian who has lost 100 kilograms by bariatic surgery. Picture: John Fotiadis Source: The Daily Telegraph FELIX Bastajian is literally half the man he was ten years ago after losing 100 kilograms, not by dieting, but as a result of bariatric surgery that 17,000 Australians a year are now using to lose weight. Now nearly 50, Felix used to weigh 187 kilograms and although he tried various diets he kept putting most of the weight back on. In 2010, frustrated and weighing 164 kilograms, he had a gastric band inserted at the Sydney Institute for Obesity Surgery and within 18 months cut his weight to 85 kilograms. His diabetes was reversed, he was able to exercise and he says he doesn't feel hungry. Gastric band: Cheap way to fight diabetes Since the surgery he has been working through a bucket list of experiences - buying a suit off the rack in a department store, skate boarding, running around an oval, buying a bathrobe (the hotel gowns would never fit before) and riding a roller coaster. Felix Bastajian, pictured furthest right, at his heaviest. "Think about a chubby kid and all the things he couldn't do that his friends could," he said. His weight loss was so massive he required two bouts of plastic surgery to remove loose skin. As obesity rates in Australia have tripled to see one in four Australians classified as obese there has been a 33 fold increase in weight loss surgery. The reason for the growth in surgery is that new scientific research shows that dieting is not a solution for most obese people. University Melbourne Professor Medicine Jo Proietto says his research shows you can lose 10 per cent of your body weight by dieting but that "triggers a co-ordinated response of the body to defend the higher body weight." Six months after they start a diet most people will begin to regain the weight they lost, not because they are weak but because their energy expenditure drops off and their hormones make them hungry, he says. Professor of surgery at Monash University Paul O'Brien says people who have bariatric surgery continue to lose weight six months after the surgery and his research shows 10 years later most have kept off 64 per cent of their excess fat. The slimmed down Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey and businessman James Packer have been very public examples of what weight loss surgery can achieve. Last month the National Health and Medical Research Council recommended that bariatric surgery be included as a weight management strategy for adults with a Body mass index over 40 and for those with a BMI over 30 if they had poorly controlled diabetes. A government review of Medicare funding of bariatric surgery has found it is cost effective and supports its use even in teenagers aged over 15. The Australian Diabetes Council wants more of the surgery to be carried out in public hospitals because an obese patient with diabetes can go into remission afterwards. Even the courts are backing the surgery solution. In February Parramatta resident Luis Almario was awarded a payment of $350,000 from his GP Dr Emmanuel Varipatis who failed to recommend weight loss surgery for his 140kg patient who has terminal liver cancer bought on by obesity. Surgeons complain that this form of surgical rescue from obesity is only available to the well off with 90 per cent of the work carried out in private hospitals and just six per cent in public hospitals. Monash University Professor John Dixon says public hospitals need to realise that bariatric surgery is one of the few things surgeons do that is cost effective, "it saves money in the long run." There are concerns that some of the researchers involved in research in the area receive funding from Allergan, the company that makes gastric bands. The surgery is not risk free and the best outcomes come when patients get intensive follow up with help from dietitians, psychologists and general practitioners. Patients must change their eating habits and increase their exercise. It can be overcome by drinking high calorie foods. Gastric band involves using keyhole surgery to fit a plastic ring around the top of the stomach to restrict flow of food and create a sense of fullness accounts for 72 per cent of bariatric surgery. It is reversible Gastric sleeve surgery most of the stomach is excised and discarded and the final stomach is about 20 per cent of its original size. It is not reversible. Accounts for 2 per cent of surgery. Gastric bypass uses staples to divide the stomach into a walnut sized upper pouch and a larger bottom section. A small part of the small intestine is connected to this small pouch and the food now travels from the pouch into this new opening and you absorb fewer calories. Accounts for one per cent of bariatric surgery. Not generally reversible. Between $6000 and up to $15,000. Most health funds provide a rebate. The National Health and Medical Research Council says bariatric surgery may be considered for .Adults with a BMI of 40 .Adults with a BMI over 35 and health problems that would improve with weight loss .Adults with a BMI over 30 who have poorly controlled type 2 diabetes. One in eight patients has an adverse event compared to the one in twenty who have an adverse event after all hospital admissions. The coroners information system shows 14 people died after bariatric surgery in the six years to 2008 Problems can include gastric reflux, vomiting, digestive disease, Melbourne youth worker Les Twentyman spent three weeks in an induced coma after this operation