Obesity surgery or Bariatric surgery refers to surgery done on dangerously overweight persons for the sole purpose of developing a forced weight loss so they can increase their physical wellbeing. Obesity surgery involves changing the body's food intake system. Drastic changes are made to the digestive system in Obesity surgery. Weight-loss in this way involves the insertion or implanting of a medical device in order to reduce the size of the patients stomach capacity. Obesity surgery can involve the resection of the small intestines and rerouting of the small intestines in to a small stomach pouch.
In drastic cases obesity surgery was known to involve possible removal of a portion of the stomach as well. Obesity surgery creates a drastic and significant loss in weight. The weight loss from obesity surgery improves other positive factors such as recovery from diabetes, major improvements in cardiovascular health due to better blood circulation and nearly a major reduction in mortality. Based on the Us National Institutes of Health, obesity surgery is recommended for people who have a body mass index of at least 40 and for people with a body mass index of 30 to 35 that have other serious medical conditions such as diabetes coexisting with obesity. Although new research suggests that people with a body mass index of 30 to 35 could have significant health gains by having obesity surgery even if they don't have other coexisting health conditions. But it must always be kept in mind that obesity surgery is a very risky procedure and must be considered asan absolute last resort after all other options have been exhausted.
Obesity surgery falls into three categories. The 1st category features predominantly malabsorptive procedures. Here the concept is to induce malabsorption which would be to reduce the amount of nutrients that the body takes. Of the three surgical options only the Biliopancreatic Diversion/Duodenal switch is performed currently. It involves resecting part of the stomach to produce a smaller stomach. The malabsorption effect is so great that patients have to take very high doses of supplementary minerals and vitamins to prevent onset of defiency related illnesses like anemia and osteoporosis.
The next category consists of restrictive procedures where the body is modified so the actual intake of food is forcibly limited. The best known of these is Vertical Banded Gastroplasty where part of the stomach is permanently stapled to create a smaller stomach which serves as the new stomach. The same procedure is the insertion of a silicone band instead of staples to restrict the stomach.
The third category uses a combination of both methods and both restricts food intake and creates malabsorption. One obesity surgery is the gastric bypass where a small stomach pouch is created and then connected to the small intestine. This is the most common obesity surgery done in the united states. Another more invasive procedure is the sleeve gastrectomy where the stomach is irreversibly reshaped to a smaller volume.
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