Looking for Gastric Bypass surgery and Severe Obesity Advice?
Severe Obesity is a condition that brings with it a great number of severe medical consequences many of them being life threatening or life shortening. The typical health problems are heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, certain types of cancer and psychological problems. There are obviously numerous ways to deal with this and the non-surgical route is the preference. If the obesity is so severe and nothing is working to reduce it then surgery is a possibility. It needs to be considered carefully and the right medical expertise should be sought.
Where is Gastric Surgery an option?
Basically when the person is either severely obese or morbidly obese and when dieting and exercise is not reducing the weight. The problem is that appetite regulation is a very complex issue and the standard messages created in the body and brain is not understood and it is impossible for some people to regulate their appetite in an acceptable way. The guidelines for surgery have been set by The National Institute of Clinical Excellence as follows:-
1) You must have tried all other non-surgical methods appropriate to the problem.
2) You should be fit enough to withstand the operation and the after operation treatment.
3) You should have a Body Mass Index of 40Kgs/M2 or above
4) The Body Mass Index may be slightly lower if there are other significant health problems.
What does Gastric Bypass Surgery do?
There are several different types of Gastric Bypass operation but they basically create a small stomach pouch to reduce the amount of food taken in and make a number of bypasses, which go round the duodenum and parts of the small intestine so that the ability to absorb calories from the food is reduced.
What are the benefits?
1) The bulk of patients lose 70 to 80% of their excess weight.
2) Diabetes II will most likely be cured.
3) The risk of heart problems is significantly reduced
4) All other weight related problems are significantly improved
5) Psychological problems are greatly improved.
How long does it take and how long will I be in hospital?
Usually up to 2 Hours for open surgery and hospitalisation will be about 4 days.
Keyhole surgery may take up to 4hours and hospitalisation will be usually less than 3 days.
What problems may occur during and after surgery?
The usual risks associated with open or anaesthetic surgery such as thrombosis, bleeding. These should be discussed with the surgeon prior to operation so you are certain of the risks. There can be complications with injuries to the spleen and stomach stapling. The risks should be small with a competent surgeon but any operation for a severely obese patient is more difficult than a normal patient and care should be taken to find out the risks and take the best advice possible.
The operation in itself is not a cure and it requires a discipline on diet and lifestyle, which will be given by the hospital team but requires practice by the patient. Certain foods will have to be omitted and vitamins may be necessary to replace those, which are not being absorbed because of the changes to the normal digestive system.
Gastric Banding and may also be a possibility and this should be examined at the same time as it a far less rigorous operation. See page on Gastric Banding
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