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Weight loss is one topic which affects most of the individuals in life. For all people weight loss has a single objective to retain their agility and to look smart along with various other reasons which we can think of. But for some, even when they try to loose weight they are not able to do so and rely on weight loss surgery. This could be the last resort for them to lose weight.
If you are severely overweight, weary from failed diets and scared for your health, you might want to know more, too. There are many misconceptions on this topic and the real fact is that there’s nothing easy about bariatric surgery. It takes courage and commitment – more than any diet we have ever heard of – and it’s clearly not for everyone.
If we ask the question, how many people would like losing 65 pounds in a year, with the probability of losing even more as time goes on? The simple answer is ‘a lot’. Obesity is pervasive across the world and the figures are rising.
What is so alarming about this escalation is that nothing contributes to health risks like obesity. Excess body weight raises the risk of arthritis – lower-body joints can’t endure the physical stress – plus a host of other serious and life-threatening diseases: cancer, type 2 diabetes, gallstones, heart disease and sleep disorders. And the risks for these diseases get worse as weight goes up.
The Doctors role in such situation becomes a legitimate and prominent concern in the medical arena. Doctors are increasingly telling their patients to lose weight and backing that up with referrals for nutrition counseling, prescriptions for weight-loss medications and, now, recommendations for bariatric surgery, which is the last stage for the treatment.
Obesity is not associated with only over eating, there are other factors, which research is showing that in some people, the complex chemistry among genes, hormones and metabolism can make the body fight back against even the strictest weight-loss efforts. People try everything like – eating less, eating only certain foods, joining support groups and weight-loss programs, following specialty diets, taking prescription weight-loss medications and exercising. But all this result in loosing and again gaining weight, making the person feeling that obesity is their destiny.
- Bariatric surgery is an umbrella term for several types of weight loss surgery and has evolved during the 50 years. The procedures available are:
- One that restricts the amount of food that can be eaten
- One that alters the digestive process so that not all calorie are absorbed, and
- One that is a combination of both.
Although some procedures induce more weight loss than others, overall, people who have bariatric surgery lose an average of 62 percent of their excess weight, according to a 2004 review of 136 studies and more than 22,000 patients published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
All three procedures can be done laparoscopically, which requires only a few small incisions for the surgical tools, including a small video camera to be inserted, giving the surgeon a close-up view on a video screen. Hence the procedure avoids large abdominal incision hence less wound healing time and fewer infections or complications.
The risk of death from weight-loss surgery is low, but severe complications can and do occur. Complications may occur long after the patient leaves the hospital, too. But with the increase in surgical procedure efficiency and controlled life style after the surgery would help in recouping at a faster rate. Bariatric surgery patients do not become ‘normal,’ thin people; they become lighter, healthier people. A patient who weighs 300 pounds will not get to 110, but may get down to 200 and eliminate or decrease their need for medications.
Another procedure that is available is called Lap-Band surgery. This involves planning an adjustable band around the stomach. This helps in restricting the food intake by altering the size of the stomach and makes patient feel full sooner.
The patients, who have been through such surgery, have given positive feedback and are feeling much healthier with fewer traumas to live with. Weight loss Surgery has given back smile to people who have no other options and now finally they can control their body and their life.
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