Surgical Options for Weight Loss
Bariatric surgery is surgical intervention, usually gastrointestinal surgery, for obesity. Bariatric surgery is surgical intervention, usually gastrointestinal surgery, for obesity. It has proven to be a more effective long term approach for very overweight people who are unable to lose weight by diet and exercise, plus have significant medical problems related to obesity. It has shown to bring about twenty to twenty-five percent of total beginning body weight loss in about ninety percent of people who have had successful surgery. This weight loss has a better retention rate of fifty to eighty percent over a five year span of time, compared to only five percent weight loss retention for other diet approaches. All bariatric surgical procedures are serious medical interventions and are not to be used by people wanting to lose twenty to thirty lbs. of perceived excess weight. Recommendations are for BMI of forty or above which is about 100 lb. for men and eighty lb. for women, or if there is a serious health problem then the BMI drops to thirty-five to forty. Clients should be thoroughly evaluated by a medical team consisting at least of a doctor, psychiatrist, and dietitian. Nutrition counseling is needed before surgery, immediately after surgery, and for long term follow-up The potential surgery client must be evaluated for eating disorders, eating behaviors related to emotional needs, and willingness to make lifestyle changes after the surgery. There have been cases when poorly screened patients have developed serious post-surgery complications that result in death or permanent health problems.
Gastroplasty reduces the amount of food that the stomach can hold and affects the neurohormonal regulation of appetite. People who have had this surgery and gastric banding (see images above) report “feeling full” much faster and often lose thirty to forty percent of their body weight. If they eat too much or too fast, vomiting will often occur. With these two surgeries, these smaller pouches of stomach capacity can stretch out to hold more food, or if activity levels decrease or intake levels of food are increased the body’s starvation mechanism kicks in and weight is regained.
A form of gastric bypass and malabsorption surgery called the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass consists of creating a small stomach pouch and attaching a smaller portion of the small intestine to this pouch (see image above). Less calories and nutrients are absorbed by the body with this procedure, but is more risky surgery and can cause nutritional deficiency. Being followed by the medical profession after this surgery is especially important to prevent disorders like protein-calorie malnutrition and vitamin/mineral deficiency diseases as a result of this shorting of the small intestine which we have learned is where most of the body’s absorption of nutrients occurs.
Liposuction is a cosmetic surgery involving removal of fat under the skin by a inserting a thin tube into a small incision in the skin and using a suction-type machine to remove fat deposits. This is usually done in the hip, thigh, and abdominal area. This surgery carries with it the risk of infection and also can cause disfiguring skin depressions or blood clots. It is used to improve body appearance, but studies have shown that is does not reduce some overweight related health problems like hypertension, high cholesterol, or Type II diabetes.