Gastric bypass surgery is a procedure used in the treatment of obesity. In the January 20, 2010, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Katherine Flegal reported that 68 percent of adults in the United States are overweight or obese. Because obesity is a risk factor for chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes, some obese people are choosing to undergo gastric bypass surgery, but the procedure presents risks of its own.
Risks
Gastric bypass surgery presents immediate risks as well as long-term risks. Immediate risks include death during surgery, surgical site infection and injury to intestines or organs. Long-term risks include malnutrition, vitamin B-12 deficiency, and dumping syndrome, in which food is rapidly dumped from the stomach into the small intestine. Dumping syndrome can lead to chronic diarrhea.
Benefits
The benefits of undergoing gastric bypass surgery are similar to those of losing weight through diet. Risk factors for chronic diseases are decreased and theoretically, healthier eating habits develop. Weight loss occurs rapidly and often without the need for exercise. Exercise itself however is beneficial to the body, and people who lose weight by dieting and exercising will reap the benefits of exercise such as improved muscle tone, endurance and cardiac health.
Procedure
Gastric bypass surgery requires a period of pre-operational fasting to clear the gut and prepare it for surgery. The patient undergoes general anesthesia while the operation is performed to bypass part of the stomach and gut. By doing so, the size of the stomach is dramatically reduced, leading to early satiety and decreased consumption of food. Part of the small intestine is bypassed, leading to decreased absorption of nutrients and calories. After the procedure, the patient continues fasting and gradually adds foods, first in the form of liquids and progressing to normal foods.
Lifetime Changes
Some gastric bypass patients are never again able to eat certain foods without feeling sick. Meals must be very small, and liquids are usually consumed separately from meals as to not fill up the stomach. A diet without gastric bypass would have some features in common with a bypass diet. Small portions and low-fat meals are ideal. The surgery, however, makes dieting mandatory. Counseling is required to help bypass patients cope with the inability to eat as before.
Last Resort
Dieting without gastric bypass should truly be exhausted before attempting a risky surgery. People looking for a quick fix will soon be shocked to discover that gastric bypass surgery requires lifelong dieting. In choosing a diet, avoid quick-fix diets that involve extreme fasting, eating only one food or exclusion of entire food groups. Diets like those almost always fail in the long run. Instead, the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture suggests that choosing a diet that can be followed long term and permanently changes your eating habits will result in greater weight loss. Any amount of weight lost by fasting can easily be regained with the return of old eating habits.
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