Ask your doctors: Is Weight Loss Surgery a Good Option for Me?

weight-loss

Weight loss surgery refers to a group of medical operations that include the removal of parts of the digestive tract, stomach bypasses, rearranging how food moves through the digestive tract (stomach), and narrowing or widening parts of the stomach and the digestive tract to help patients feel fullness after eating. Weight loss surgeries are performed on people who are severely obese and have a BMI of 30 or more, or on people who have a BMI between 27 and 29 and have one or more related health conditions, such as diabetes. Furthermore, they should usually be combined with a healthier lifestyle and a strong commitment to exercise.

In other words, for patients who have been unable to lose weight through traditional diet and exercise programs, weight loss surgery may be a long-term and effective solution. Weight loss surgery is typically recommended for patients with health risks due to severe obesity who have a BMI of 30 or higher.

This blog post will explain who is eligible for weight loss surgery, what steps should be taken before and after the procedure, and what benefits this treatment has.

The majority of bariatric surgeries performed today are minimally invasive, as they are done laparoscopically.

Laparoscopic surgery (also known as keyhole surgery or bandaid surgery) is a modern surgical technique in which a surgeon and his team can be performing an entire procedure through a few small incisions (usually.5-1.5cm in diameter) with the help of a laparoscope (a long, fibre-optic cable inserted through a needle-like tube). 2-4 laparoscopic incisions are made in most bariatric procedures.

The main benefits of laparoscopic surgery for patients are that recovery times are much shorter, and there is a significantly lower risk of pain and haemorrhaging after the procedure.

 

There are numerous types of bariatric surgeries, with slight differences in technique and available innovation depending on the surgeon and country in which the procedure is performed. The main types of bariatric surgery are given below. Each procedure can be tailored to the patient’s specific needs and differing weight loss goals.

 

  • Gastric Band / Banding ( Adjustable Gastric Band, is a bariatric surgery that works by solely restricting the amount of food intake. )
  • Gastric Balloon (After being inserted into the stomach, a gastric pouch is inflated with 400-700 cc saline water. This is a temporary weight loss method used endoscopically for people who are unable to lose weight through diet and exercise or do not want to be operated on, as well as for patients who are at high surgical risk.)
  • Gastric Sleeve / Sleeve Gastrectomy
  • Gastric Bypass

We interviewed our doctors and asked them who the best candidate for a weight loss surgery is;

Patients who meet the following factors are generally eligible for weight loss surgery:

 

  • The patient’s BMI (Metabolic Rate) is greater than 40, or he or she is more than 100 pounds overweight.
  • The patient has a BMI of 30-35 and at least two obesity-related co-morbidities such as type 2 diabetes (T2DM), hypertension, sleep apnea, and other respiratory disorders. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, osteoarthritis, lipid abnormalities, gastrointestinal disorders, or heart disease are also examples

What would the Global Medical Care doctors advise the patients to do before their surgeries?

We advise our patients to lose weight before undergoing surgery for two reasons:

 

  1. Patients who lose weight prior to surgery are more likely to lose even more weight after the procedure.
  2. Patients who lose weight before surgery have a lower risk of complications during surgery.

 

Patients who lose 5% of their body weight before surgery have a 36-minute shorter operating time than those who do not. In other words, a lower weight makes the procedure easier for the surgeon to perform. A shorter operating time means a lower risk of complications. Pre-op weight loss and complication rates for gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy patients were found to be directly related; the more weight patients lost before gastric bypass surgery, the less likely they were to experience complications.

Weight loss surgery marks the start of a new life; the operation is only the beginning of a new lifestyle that the patient is strongly encouraged to adopt. Poor lifestyle and eating habits take time to change, and weight loss surgery will not be effective in the long run if patients do not begin to adopt a healthier lifestyle on their own. 

What would happen if the patient did not commit to their diet or healthy life-style requirements?

Could a doctor get their certification if they were not qualified in treating patients? Would a race car driver attempt to race at the Formula 1 races if s/he did not know how to drive? Or simply put, would an athlete attempt to win the Olympics if they hadn’t had months of training and hard-work put into it?

Certainly not! The same is true for bariatric surgery patients: they should never have surgery unless they have thoroughly prepared for it, both physically and psychologically. The patients should combine healthy lifestyle choices with this procedure.

The same thing happens after the procedure: if patients resume their old habits after surgery, such as consuming higher calories, they may not only regain the weight they lost, but the chance of a relapse in their obesity-related health problems increases.

The sooner patients begin preparing for bariatric surgery, the more likely it is that they will be able to become comfortable with their new lifestyle for long-term weight loss and health improvement

Weight Loss Surgery + Global Medical Care

After Surgery;

Patients will be given a plan to follow in the weeks following surgery, which will include nutrition and exercise recommendations. To begin, these may include a liquid diet and juices, which is critical in the early stages. Later on, the diet may include soft or pureed foods, followed by more regular foods. It is extremely difficult to get enough fluids during the first few months of healing. Most surgeons recommend that patients drink plenty of fluids on a daily basis to avoid dehydration, constipation, and kidney stones. Patients will also need to get enough vitamins and nutrients with daily supplements, a habit for the rest of their lives, including multivitamins, vitamin D, calcium, iron, and vitamin B12.

 

Making lifestyle changes are required to improve post-surgery quality of life. Protein-rich foods are essential: patients are advised to consume 60-100 g of protein per day, depending on their medical condition, type of operation, and level of activity. We advise patients to limit their carbohydrate intake, particularly starchy foods (bread, pasta, crackers, and refined cereals with sugar) and sweetened foods (cookies, cakes, candies, or other sweets). Limiting carbs to 50 grams or less per day helps to avoid rebound hunger, which can lead to weight gain.

 

Benefits of Bariatric Surgeries

The pros of these operations are much more than the cons;

  • Type 2 diabetes can be completely reversed in many people who have had weight loss surgery, or it can be greatly improved in others. Weight loss surgery may help severely obese people live longer lives, according to research. The reason for this is that there is a lower risk of stroke, heart attack, certain types of cancer, and liver disease that are not associated with alcohol.
  • Those who have had bariatric surgery are also less likely to develop high blood pressure in the future than those who have had conventional weight loss treatments, according to research.

 

Do you want to learn more about bariatric surgeries? Not sure which country will provide the best weight loss treatment, hospital and the most experienced board certified doctors? Or are you ready to take the next step and find out whether you are suitable for a stomach reduction treatment? Even if you are just looking to inform yourself on the accredited hospital reviews, the trusted clinics or costs… Contact us right away, and one of our medical consultants will contact you to get you started. They will collaborate with you to find high-quality, affordable treatment options based on the criterias that are important to you.

 

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