Feeding Tubes and Wedding Dresses

April 22nd, 2012

I don’t often find material for my blog in the Sunday Styles Section of the New York Times, but this was an interesting exception.  An article titled “Adjusting a Waistline for a Wedding, but at What Cost?”  discussed how readers are responding to the story of a woman who used a feeding tube to lose weight in order to be slim for her wedding.  I question the ethics of using medical devices such as feeding tubes for weight loss for several reasons.  First, it comes across as an “easy fix” to a problem that is chronic and does not address the underlying overeating/sedentary lifestyle.  I highly doubt she will be able to keep the weight off in the months after the wedding.  Perhaps if that woman had learned to eat and exercise regularly, she would be able to maintain her waistline, and reduce her risks of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease.  In terms of healthcare costs, I feel it is unjustified to let medical equipment be used for such purposes.  Nasogastric tubes are primarily used for severely ill patients, such as after a stroke, who are unable to eat by themselves.

A nasogastric tube is not merely a straw through the nose, it extends down to the stomach.  It can cause irritation to the esophagus (which connects the throat to stomach).  As any medical resident can tell you, nasogastric tubes can kink and become stuck, or the worst scenario they can migrate down the trachea or windpipe, causing the fluids to end up in the lung leading to aspiration pneumonitis or aspiration pneumonia.  I’m glad none of this happened to the woman during her 10 days with the tube,  but it would’ve been a disaster.