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Author: Tiffany Bradford
Although diet and exercise are undoubtedly the safest methods of weight loss available, and the preferred ones, they simply do not work for every person who tries them. As it becomes clear that obesity causes or exacerbates some of the most deadly of diseases, the importance of reducing body weight becomes clear. However, not everyone is helped by and traditional methods of weight loss. For varying reasons, other surgical methods may be required to help a person lose weight.
Surgical Alternatives for Weight Loss
There are several surgical alternatives for weight loss. These alternatives include gastric bypass surgery and gastric band surgery. However, studies have shown that gastric bands not have the same level of benefits as gastric bypass surgery, and in fact may have more complications involved.
Gastric band surgery involves the insertion of a band around a person’s stomach, which divides the stomach into two parts. By placing this band around the stomach, a person feels full far more quickly and can hold less food in his or her stomach. This surgery may have varying degrees of success, although it may be considered less drastic than gastric bypass surgery.
Gastric bypass surgery involves the creation of a smaller stomach pouch which bypasses directly into the digestive system, skipping part of the small intestine. This surgery can be either laparoscopically or through a large incision the stomach. This type of surgery generally involves a four to six day stay in the hospital. It is not done in any except the most severe circumstances.
Candidates for Gastric Bypass Surgery
To be a candidate for gastric bypass certain a person must meet several qualifications. First of all, a person must have been obese for five or more years. This indicates that the person’s weight cannot be lost easily. Second of all, a person must be between the ages of 18 and 65. Gastric bypass surgery cannot be performed on a person that is below or above this age group.
The third and fourth qualifications have more to do with a person’s mental situation, then his or her physical one. The third qualification is that the person must not be an alcoholic. Lastly, the person cannot have untreated depression or other psychiatric disorder.
What to Expect
A person undergoing gastric bypass surgery can expect to lose approximately one third of his or her excess weight within the first one to four years. Some of this weight loss may be regained if a person does not also attempt to change his or her habits after the surgery.
There are many risks a person must undertake if getting a gastric bypass surgery as well. First of all, as with any other surgery, there is a risk of infection. There’s also a risk of ulcers or a hernia developing. Nausea and vomiting after eating can also be side effects of gastric bypass surgery. Any person considering this type of surgery should consult his or her doctor regarding these and other risks.
About the Author:
Patients usually have excess skin depending on the amount of weight lost as a result of this type of procedure. Many patients are interested in plastic surgery, including even facial plastic surgery to reduce the signs of loose or sagging skin. Find out more information on cosmetic plastic surgery at DocShop.com.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – The Risks and Benefits Associated With Gastric Bypass Surgery
Author: Healthbase
Some people have gastric bypass surgery and shed 100 pounds or more. What can this surgery do for you?
To answer this question, you will first need to know what gastric bypass surgery is and how it helps you lose weight.
A gastric bypass surgery also known as Roux en-Y surgery is a medical procedure that reduces the size of your stomach causing you to feel full when you have eaten only a small portion. What your surgeon will essentially do is divide your stomach into two sections – a small upper one and a much larger remnant one using surgical staples (which is why this procedure is also known as stomach stapling). The small top pouch is the one that will hold your food. Your surgeon will also re-arrange your small intestine such that both the stomach pouches remain connected to the intestines.
The reduction in the functional volume of your stomach reduces your food intake. Not only that, the re-arrangement of the small intestine causes food to by-pass the first part of the small intestine resulting in reduced calorie absorption. Both these factors help you lose weight.
But is gastric bypass surgery for everyone who needs to lose weight?
That’s a personal choice or your doctor may prescribe it for you. Generally, it is considered in only those individuals who have tried hard but failed to achieve weight loss through exercise and diet.
Obesity, which is a complex disease, leads to other diseases. Morbid obesity or the accumulation of too much body fat increases a person’s risk for developing other health problems or co-morbidities such as heart diseases, diabetes, etc.
But how much fat is too much fat?
That’s calculated by your body mass index or BMI which is a measure of your weight in relation to your height. In simple words, it tells you how much you should normally weigh for your height and if you exceed that normal weight then you are medically considered overweight. Reducing your weight and therefore, your BMI, helps you control the risk of developing obesity related health problems. (Use the BMI” target=”_blank”>www.healthbase.com/hb/pages/bariatric.jsp#BMICalculator”>BMI calculator to calculate your BMI.)
Like any other surgery there are risks associated with gastric bypass surgery as well. Some of the risks include gastritis (which is an inflammation of the stomach lining), development of gallstones (caused by significant weight loss in a short time), nausea, vomiting, bleeding, infections, and nutritional deficiency (which can be avoided through nutritional supplements). So, when deciding to have the surgery you should carefully weigh the risks associated with it and the problems that it can solve for you.
Variations of gastric bypass surgery are gastric bypass, Roux en-Y proximal; gastric bypass, Roux en-Y distal; and loop gastric bypass or mini-gastric bypass. Gastric bypass surgery is not the only bariatric surgery available for treating morbid obesity. Some people also consider gastric lap-band as an option.
The cost can be a major deciding factor when considering the surgery. Depending upon your specific medical conditions and insurance terms, your health insurance carrier may or may not cover the costs.
The high cost of healthcare has led some Americans to seek treatment in countries like India, Thailand, Singapore, Mexico and Turkey. This practice of going abroad, which is termed as medical tourism or medical travel or health tourism, is a way of getting low cost high quality medical care. But before you decide to outsource your health care it’s extremely important that you do your homework properly – research the facilities, the surgeons, compare the cost and quality offered by different hospitals, talk to people who have had their surgery overseas, etc.
You can learn more about the growing trend of medical tourism, gastric bypass surgery and other medical and dental procedures by logging on to http://www.healthbase.com.
About the Author:
The author is a medical” target=”_blank”>www.healthbase.com/hb/pages/medical-tourism.jsp”>medical tourism facilitator connecting patients to leading hospitals around the world for low cost high quality surgical care in various categories including bariatric, orthopedic, cardiac, spinal, dental, cosmetic, laparoscopic, etc. To learn more, call 1-888-691-4584, email info.hb @ healthbase.com, or visit http://www.healthbase.com.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Gastric Bypass Surgery – What Can it Do for You?
Author: Craig Thompson
Gastric bypass surgery makes your stomach smaller. This causes you to feel full with less food so you consume fewer calories. The procedure also bypasses part of your small intestine, so fewer calories are actually absorbed into your system. Fewer calories will ultimately lead to weight loss.
When you eat food, it passes through the esophagus and enters into the stomach, where gastric acids soften the food and begin to dissolve it. Next, this semi-liquid mixture enters into the small intestine, where most of the calories and essential nutrients are absorbed by your body. Finally, whatever is left passes into the large intestine and eventually through the colon as it is expelled from the body. Gastric bypass surgery restructures the stomach and intestinal system, resulting in intentional malabsorption and limiting the patient’s ability to eat large quantities of food.
Common Gastric Bypass Procedures
The most common gastric bypass surgery is a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. The surgeon will create a small pouch at the top of the stomach using surgical staples. Next, he will connect this smaller pouch directly to the middle of the small intestine (called the jejunum). This causes the food to bypass the lower part of the stomach and the first part of the small intestine (called the duodenum).
Historically, the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass was does as an open procedure, which means the surgeon makes a large incision in the outer stomach wall to access the abdominal cavity. Today, the laparoscopic procedure is more common for those who qualify. This method is performed by making up to five small incisions in the outer stomach wall and using extremely small instruments and a tiny camera to guide them.
Risks and Benefits of Gastric Bypass Surgery
Typically, the surgery requires a two to six day hospital stay, depending on which procedure you have done. Usually, you can return to normal activities within three to five weeks. The type of work you do may require a longer convalescence period.
Some of the benefits of gastric bypass surgery are: · Most people lose between 60% and 80% of their excess weight over a two to three year period. · The majority of patients manage to keep at least 50% of their excess weight off permanently. · Other obesity-related health problems, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, are often minimized or eliminated.
There are also several serious risks with gastric bypass surgery, such as: · Peritonitis, a severe infection caused by a leak from the stomach into the abdominal cavity from a ruptured staple or stitch. · The possibility of a blood clot breaking away from the surgical area and getting caught in the lung (called a pulmonary embolism).
However, recent studies indicate that only about 2% to 3% of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass patients die within 90 days of the procedure. (Source: “Gastric Bypass – Let the Morbidly Obese Beware”, by Neil Osterweil, Senior Associate Editor, MedPage Today.) Common Side Effects of Gastric Bypass Surgery
Gastric bypass surgery can also cause several less serious short- and long-term side effects, such as: · Dumping syndrome, which can occur when food moves too quickly through the small intestine. This disorder causes nausea, weakness, sweating, faintness, and possibly diarrhea soon after eating and is generally caused by eating highly refined foods, like sugars. · Developing gallstones or a nutritional deficiency, such as anemia or osteoporosis. · The connection between the stomach and the intestines can narrow, causing nausea and vomiting after eating. · Patients can develop stomach ulcers or a hernia. · The bypassed part of the stomach can enlarge, causing bloating and hiccups.
Of course, any surgery has some risks associated with it. That is why it is essential that you consider all of the benefits and risks associated with gastric bypass surgery and talk them over with your doctor and perhaps even a mental health professional.
About the Author:
Craig Thompson, better known as “Big T,” a former sumo wrestler who used to tip the scales at 400 pounds has since reinvented himself as a singer and bandleader. As one of the earliest to have Gastric Bypass Surgery, in 1997.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Gastric Bypass Surgery – How It Works
Obesity surgery is not just about reducing bodyweight; research shows it can even cause durable and rapid remission of Type 2 diabetes. This is great news, particularly because diabetes and diabetes-related complications are emerging in epidemic proportions all across the globe. And not just diabetes alone! Obesity surgery can also lower high cholesterol and high triglycerides, and even non-obese subjects can also benefit significantly from this procedure. 
In a healthy human system, the beta cells of the pancreas secrete insulin that converts sugar in our food to energy. The secretion takes place when the partly digested food materials reach the small intestine from the stomach. When the healthy system is altered, insulin secretion is diminished, as a result of which sugar does not get converted to energy and it simply passes to the bloodstream from the small intestine. This causes high blood sugar that is the forerunner of diabetes.
Now if the food bolus from the stomach can be made to bypass a large section of the small intestine, particularly the duodenum where absorption of carbohydrates and fats take place in the body, there will be lesser chance of absorption of sugar and fat in the blood. So even if the insulin secretion is poor, the blood sugar level does not increase. And since absorption of fat also does not take place, high cholesterol and high triglycerides are also reduced. This bypassing of food is achieved by gastric bypass surgery.
Persons whether they are obese or non-obese can benefit drastically from gastric bypass surgery if they are suffering from severe Type 2 diabetes. It can help to limit the intake of food by reducing the size of the stomach through creating a small pouch in the stomach. This small pouch is directly connected to the lower part of the small intestine, bypassing the duodenum. In this way, absorption of carbohydrates and fats are limited in the system. So you not only cut down overweight due to restricted eating, you also absorb less of sugar and fat in your body. And that’s the key to your better management of Type-2 diabetes.
There is another explanation to how obesity surgery relieves Type-2 diabetes. According to the proponents of this theory, the rapid passage of food from the stomach to the hind portion of the small intestine activates secretion of active glucagon such as Peptide I which has a positive role in stimulating the pancreatic beta cells that eventually increases insulin secretion and improves the insulin sensitivity of the cells. This also reduces the speed of emptying of the stomach contents, which means one has the fullness sensation for long and hence eats less frequently.
Gastric bypass surgery is an indoor procedure that can be done laparoscopically and patients can quickly recover by two-three days and get back to their homes. By about a couple of weeks one can recover fully and get back to normal life. However, for optimal results, dietary control and regular workouts are must. Lifestyle changes such as reducing smoking and alcohol consumption, eating slowly and chewing foods well, spacing out solid foods and liquids intake by about 30 minutes and controlling stress are also very important.
So it’s not just bye-bye obesity with gastric bypass surgery. It can very well be bye-bye Type 2 diabetes, bye-bye high cholesterol and high triglycerides and welcome good life with obesity surgery.
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