Gastric Bypass Surgery – Just The Facts

Gastric Bypass surgery is becoming increasingly more popular
for the morbid obese. In order to qualify for the surgery,
you must have a body mass index of more than 40, which
usually translates to being 100 or more pounds overweight.

Gastric Bypass surgery is a procedure in which the surgeon
will create a pouch out of your stomach, divide the stomach
and then connect the pouch directly to the intestine,
basically “bypassing” the lower stomach. The whole idea is
to limit the amount food that the patient can consume and to
shorten up the digestive track so that fewer calories can be
absorbed by the patients body. Since the person cannot
consume as much food, they are not going to consume as many
calories and thus force the body to use stored fat.

As with any surgery, there are certain risks associated with
the gastric bypass procedure and they include the following:
bleeding, infections, further surgeries to correct
complications, gallstones from such a drastic weight loss in
a short amount of time, gastritis, vomiting (from eating
more than the stomach pouch can hold), iron or vitamin B12
deficiencies, and calcium deficiency.

A common side effect that you will often hear about with
gastric bypass surgery is something known as “dumping
syndrome”. The symptoms for dumping syndrome include nausea
and vomiting, diarrhea, bloated feeling, dizziness and
sweating, but these symptoms can be reduced considerably by
strictly following your dietitian’s guidelines.

As far as what to expect after surgery, the weight loss
results are usually good. Patients generally lose an average
of 10 pounds per month and have their weight level off
around 18 and 24 months after the surgery. Typically, the
greatest weight change occurs at the beginning, because the
patient is restricted to a liquid diet for awhile.

The patient will find themselves following up with their
doctor as well as a dietitian many times during the first
year so that he or she can keep a close eye on your physical
and mential health status.

Keep in mind that gastric bypass surgery is not a miracle
cure for weight loss. Although it helps to train you to eat
less and get the feeling of being full faster, the patient
still has plenty of work of their own to do. It is an
absolute must to exercise and eat properly to fully benefit
from the procedure.

Reggie Dunn is a long time sufferer of obesity
and also the webmaster of
http://www.gastric-bypass-facts.info

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