Do you feel like you have tried every diet and gimmick to lose weight and nothing has worked? Have friends, co-workers, and relatives reported success after weight-loss surgery? There may be some merit to their reports. The scientific literature shows that surgery can help severely obese people meet their long-term weight goals and improve their overall health.
You may have heard the term bariatric surgery, which refers to all types of weight-loss surgeries. Gastric bypass surgery, a procedure in which the stomach is made smaller to limit food intake and limit the absorption of some nutrients, is the most common type of weight loss surgery performed today. Studies have shown the following improved health outcomes after gastric bypass surgery:
- Diabetes has completely resolved in 77 percent of patients and resolved or improved in 86 percent of patients who had the surgery.
- High blood pressure was resolved in 62 percent of patients and resolved or improved in 79 percent of patients.
- Abnormalities in lipids were improved in 70 percent or more of patients.
- Obstructive sleep apnea was resolved in 86 percent of patients.
If you think you may be interested in pursuing some type of weight-loss surgery, you must first determine whether you meet the specific patient criteria. Patients who are candidates for this procedure must have a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher (about 100 pounds overweight) or a BMI between 35 and 40 and an obesity-related disease such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or obstructive sleep apnea. In addition, you should be able to demonstrate that you have tried and failed other types of diet management programs.
Like other forms of weight control, you must be committed to long-term lifestyle changes to be successful. Even if you think you meet these guidelines, you will need to be individually evaluated by the health care team to decide whether bariatric surgery is the best option for you. The decision to undergo bariatric surgery can be difficult, so it's important to be an informed consumer and understand the various surgery options.
Gastric bypass and all other types of bariatric surgery will require you to make lifelong changes to your diet. The surgery changes the way your body absorbs vitamins and minerals, so you will need to take daily vitamin supplements. Also, the quantity of food you consume will be drastically less because the size of your stomach -- originally the size of a football -- will be reduced to the size of an egg. You most likely will not be able to tolerate high-fat foods and carbonated drinks after surgery; if so, these foods may need to be eliminated from your diet. Many patients report diet-related problems such as lactose intolerance, nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, and other symptoms, called "dumping," when food travels too fast down the small intestine.
All patients considering bariatric surgery want to know how much weight they will lose. Weight loss varies from patient to patient, but the average loss is between 60 percent to 70 percent of excess weight. Usually, you can expect rapid weight loss during the first few months, which will taper off with time. You will continue to lose weight for 18 to 24 months after the procedure. Regular exercise can assist with weight loss and long-term weight maintenance.
Just like more traditional methods of weight control, many patients report regaining some of the weight lost. But unlike some diets in which patients regain all the weight they'd lost -- and sometimes more -- patients who have had bariatric surgery usually regain 5 percent to 10 percent of total weight lost and, overall, maintain a greater weight loss than those who lose weight through traditional dieting. Remember that, as with every other diet, making poor food choices and failing to make the necessary lifestyle changes after surgery can cause you to regain any amount of weight loss. Your behavior and attitudes after surgery are just as important for the long-term success of your weight loss as the surgery itself!