Weight Loss Surgery Introduction
Weight loss surgery procedures assist obese or morbidly obese people in losing weight. Also known as bariatric surgery, weight loss surgeries come in a number of forms, usually involving either medically reducing the size of the stomach, removing part of the stomach, or re-routing the patient’s small intestines to a small stomach section.
Choosing weight loss surgery
Surgical procedures to encourage weight loss are used as an effective last resort for people who have had no success with non-surgical weight loss programs. Prior to surgery, your doctor is likely to ask whether you have tried nutritious dieting, regular exercise, and positive lifestyle changes. If you experience no improvements after six months (or longer) of serious weight loss attempts, surgery may be the best option.
Does weight loss surgery offer long-term benefits?
Scientific studies have been carried out to look at long-term effects of weight loss surgery. They frequently conclude that these surgeries not only lead to significant lasting weight loss, but that they can also help with diabetes, decrease cardiovascular risks, and considerably reduce mortality rates among those treated. The specific amount of weight loss, and whether it is adequately maintained, depends on the individual surgery and patient commitment afterward. With responsible lifestyle alterations, long-term weight stability is easily achievable. In the United States, the renowned National Institutes of Health recommends that people with a BMI over 40 should consider weight loss surgery.
Types of surgical procedure
Weight loss surgeries all use methods to limit the amount of food that enters the body. This reduction of calories can lead to significant loss in weight over time as the body gets used to consuming less. The approaches used in weight loss surgery fall broadly into these categories:
- Modifying the mechanics of how the body digests and reacts to food, thereby making it more difficult to eat excessively,
- Altering a patient’s appetite,
- Changing the rate of food absorption in the intestine.
Some procedures utilize a combination of these techniques in order to attack the problem from multiple angles.
Gastric Band
Gastric band surgery involves fitting an inflatable and adjustable band around the stomach, thereby dividing the stomach into a smaller and larger chamber. In this way food is limited and kept in the small top portion for a period of time determined by how much the band is inflated, making the patient feel fuller for longer.
Gastric Bypass
A more involved form of surgery, the gastric bypass divides the stomach to produce similar effects to the gastric band, but also allows the patient to eat as much food as they wish within reason. This is due to a bypass of parts of the stomach and the small intestine which is used to break down food. As a result, the food misses these places and malabsorption is created: not all the calories are absorbed.
Biliopancreatic Diversion
The biliopancreatic diversion produces similar effects to the gastric bypass, but instead of stapling the stomach into two, a portion of the stomach is removed and the remaining part connected either to the lower or upper smaller intestine.
These popular surgeries are explored in detail in our relevant articles. You can also access other valuable weight loss surgery information in these pages.