People suffering from severe obesity are susceptible to many health problems. Weight loss surgery or Bariatric surgery can help to treat this chronic condition by restricting food intake or interrupting digestive processes in patients suffering from severe obesity. As with any other surgical procedure, this treatment too has its own benefits and risks, which must be clearly understood before making a decision.
How Does The Normal Digestive Process Function?
Different digestive juices and enzymes are secreted as the ingested food moves from the esophagus down to the stomach. These juices help to digest and absorb various nutrients from the food. To speed up the process of digestion, Bile and pancreatic juices act on the food as it moves from the stomach into the small intestine. Most of the iron and calcium from our foods is absorbed in the duodenum while the rest of the nutrients are absorbed in the jejunum and the ileum. Undigested food particles are stored in the large intestine and ejected through the anus.
Types Of Weight Loss Surgery
Gastric surgery involves making changes to the stomach and small intestine. According to the American Society for Bariatric Surgery, there are two main approaches to performing this weight loss surgery:
- Restrictive procedures that decrease food intake
- Mal-absorptive procedures that alter digestion.
Due to these procedures the food is digested properly but absorbed incompletely so that it can be eliminated in the stool.
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I suppose this is different from stomach stapling. Had a relative who had her stomach stapled when she was 30 years old. Went from a morbid 300 pounds to 90 within a few years. Looked great but was dead at 35 from internal complications.
While this article is good and explains the different procedures, there is so much more that needs to be known before making a decision to have this surgery.
I recommend a guide like the one written by Kent Sasse, MD. He’s an expert in his field and his book is thoughtful, approachable, balanced and written in clear language. He even discusses how to go about choosing the right surgeon and bariatric center so it’s not just a book to pitch his services.
The book is titled “Outpatient Weight-Loss Surgery” by Kent Sasse, MD