Bariatric treatments for adult obesity - Institute of Health Economics

the action of insulin. The two main types of diabetes correspond to these two mechanisms and arecalled type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes.Diet: what a person eats and drinks, or any type of eating plan.Digestive system: includes the organs (that is: salivary glands, mouth, esophagus, stomach, smallintestine, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, colon, rectum, and anus) that are responsible for getting foodinto and out of the body and for making use of it.Dumping syndrome: an adverse event caused by eating refined sugar, symptoms of which includerapid heart rate, nausea, tremor, faintness, and diarrhea.Endocrinology: the study of hormones, their receptors, the intracellular signaling pathways theyinvoke, and the diseases and conditions associated with them.Epidemic: a sudden severe outbreak of a disease (the occurrence of more cases of a disease thanwould be expected in a community or region during a given time period).Excess weight: the difference between one’s actual weight and a healthy weight.Excess weight loss (EWL): surplus weight loss achieved through diet or through medical orsurgical treatment. EWL is measured by weight units (pounds or kilograms) or by a percentage(initial weight – current weight)/(initial weight – ideal weight).Fat: a building block of human bodies and a major source of energy in the diet. Fat helps the humanbody absorb fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E, and K) and carotenoids. Fats that are infood/diet are combinations of monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated fatty acids. Alldietary fats contain nine calories per gram, more than twice the number provided by carbohydratesor protein.Gastrointestinal: a term that describes the entire digestive tract, referring collectively to thestomach and the small and large intestines.Gastrointestinal tract: the tube that extends from the mouth to the anus, in which food is digestedthrough the movement of muscles and the release of hormones and enzymes. It is also called thealimentary canal, the digestive tract, and the GI tract.Genes: the basic biological units of heredity.Genetic: pertaining to inherited characteristics.Glucose: the simple sugar (monosaccharide) that serves as the main source of energy in the body.The body makes glucose from proteins, fats, and, in largest part, carbohydrates. Glucose is carried toeach cell through the bloodstream. Cells cannot use glucose without the help of insulin. Glucose isalso known as dextrose.Glycemic Index (GI): an index that ranks foods based on their effect on blood sugar in the humanbody. Each food on the Glycemic Index receives a "score" according to how much the blood sugarlevel increases within a few hours of eating that food.Gout: a condition characterized by abnormally elevated levels of uric acid in the blood, recurringattacks of joint inflammation (arthritis), deposits of hard lumps of uric acid in and around the joints,decreased kidney function, and kidney stones. Uric acid is a breakdown product of purines, whichare found in many foods we eat.Bariatric treatments for adult obesity – March 2012xviii