Weight Loss Surgery: What You Need to Know

Weight loss surgery, known as metabolic or bariatric surgery, is a surgical procedure used to manage extreme cases of obesity. It can help lose significant amounts of weight and prevent complications associated with excess weight, such as high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. However, any form of weight loss surgery is a significant operation, and you should only consider it after trying different weight loss methods and consulting with your doctor. After a Sebring weight loss surgery, you can lose weight in two ways. First, it may cause restrictions limiting the quantity of food your stomach can hold, reducing your calorie intake. Secondly, it may cause malabsorption where it shortens or bypasses part of your small intestine, reducing the number of nutrients and calories your body absorbs.

When Should You Consider Weight Loss Surgery?

You may want to go for weight loss surgery for different reasons. Regardless of your reason, make sure you consult with your primary care physician to find out if weight loss surgery is an option. Some of the ordinary circumstances that may need a weight loss surgery include:

• Having a body mass index of 40 or higher or a BMI ranging between 35 and 39.9 and a condition related to excess weight could improve if you lose some weight.
• Having no success with other weight loss methods such as proper nutrition, exercising, lifestyle changes.
• Willingness to make permanent changes to your lifestyle and adhere to a long-term follow-up program after the surgery.

Types of Weight Loss Surgeries

Your doctor can recommend one of the different weight loss surgeries depending on your condition. Each type comes with its advantages and disadvantages. A gastric sleeve surgery makes you feel less hungry and full after eating a small amount of food. It removes a big part of your stomach which also limits the amount of hunger-causing hormones.

The second type of weight loss surgery is gastric bypass, where your surgeon splits your stomach into two parts; a smaller top pouch and a more significant lower portion. They also rearrange the intestines to bypass the top part of your small intestines. After surgery, your body absorbs fewer minerals, and the small pouch fills up with smaller amounts of food.

A duodenal switch is also an option if you need weight loss surgery. The surgeon removes a large part of your stomach, rearranges your intestines to bypass a large part of the small intestines, and removes your gallbladder. The small part of the stomach secretes fewer hunger-causing hormones and fills up faster. The bypassed small intestines absorb fewer calories, minerals, and nutrients.

Risks

Weight loss surgeries come with minimal risk of complications. You may be left with too much skin, which may need surgery to remove. It may also limit the number of nutrients you get from your diet, so you may need to take supplements.

In summary, weight loss surgery is used to control extreme cases of obesity. You may need it if you have a BMI higher than 40 or a BMI ranging between 35 and 40 with conditions related to excess weight. There are different types of weight loss surgery, and they all offer various advantages and disadvantages.