"Surgery. It is important to note that while surgery is considered the most effective treatment for the morbidly obese patient, studies are just evolving considering the long-term effect of this kind of treatment and whether this treatment is ultimately helpful for the binge-eating patient. In general, at one and a half to two years postsurgery, weight loss stabilises, and a substantial portion of individuals even begin to regain lost weight. What is clear is that a presurgical history of binge-eating disorder is associated with poorer long-term weight outcomes. There are many stories of patients who have reached their ideal weight following surgery, only to quickly regain all of the weight once their goal has been reached. In these cases, bingeing begins again despite severe physical pain, vomiting, and the obvious despair of watching the scale skyrocket again. One patient described losing and gaining over 100 pounds in less than two years. Bariatric surgery thus can initially achieve substantial weight loss, but surgery alone may not alter the underlying eating disorder. If the eating disorder remains, positive results can be significantly compromised. Without a deeper understanding of the psychological role of bingeing, without the possibility of medication to address physiological cravings, and without an ongoing program to develop new means of dealing with feelings and stress, surgery may just be a bandage that only temporarily covers a longer-term and deeper problem."