Obesity is a complex disease. Though we have learned much about obesity and its treatment, there is also much that we’re trying to understand.

The information below can help you understand more about obesity:

Clinical Diagnosis: What Does Obese Mean?
As our knowledge of obesity has grown, the way physicians define obesity has changed.

Causes of Obesity
The biological basis for severe obesity remains unknown. Recent investigations, however, have identified multiple abnormal proteins, present in the brain and peripheral blood of morbidly obese patients.

Incidence of Obesity
Obesity is a world-wide problem, though it has marked prevalence in Western societies. It is also a problem that is growing in incidence and severity.

How Obesity Affects Your Health
As one’s weight increases, so do the risks for many diseases linked to obesity.

Non-Surgical Management of Obesity
Many non-surgical avenues have been explored to develop effective treatments for obesity. Unfortunately, in people with morbid obesity, all of these strategies have been unsuccessful so far.

Surgical Approaches to Morbid Obesity
When diet, exercise, and drug therapies for obesity don’t provide patients with long-term success, many people with morbid obesity choose a surgical means to addressing this significant health problem.

The Evolution of Obesity Surgery
Information for patients undergoing weight loss surgery at Duke

Evidence for the Effectiveness of Weight-Loss Surgery
Information for patients undergoing weight loss surgery at Duke