Weight Loss Surgery FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers About Weight Loss Surgery

Weight Loss Surgery FAQs: Obesity problem is rising and more and more people are choosing to go for bariatric surgery. It has been proved easy and effective to most of the people. It is being helpful to those for whom other conventional methods for weight loss have failed and who are suffering from morbid health problems such as blood pressure, severe diabetes, sleep apnea etc. There are different types of bariatric surgery and it has its pros and cons. There might be many questions in your mind about the bariatric surgery, its success and side effects. You must get satisfactory answer to all of these questions before you decide on it. Some of the frequently asked questions and answers about Weight Loss Surgery are:

1. Is weight loss surgery right for you?

Weight loss surgery is not for everyone. You must discuss with your doctor about it. Usually, weight loss surgery is recommended to the people who have:

  • Body mass index 40 or greater than that. It means men are overweight by 100 pounds and women are overweight by 80 pounds.
  • Body mass between 35-40 and are having serious obesity related health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, sleeping disorder etc.
  • Tried conventional methods such as physical exercise, diet etc., but failed to lose weight.
  • Prepared yourself for the life style change and regular follow-up.

2. What type of the surgery should you choose?

There are basically two types of bariatric surgeries, They are:

  • Restrictive Surgeries: In this type of surgery, your stomach’s physical size is restricted, so it limits your food intake. Adjustable Gastric band surgery is a restrictive surgery in which an adjustable band is tied to a stomach. It is adjusted over the time and so it requires regular follow with the doctor. Adjustable gastric band is the simplest of all the surgeries.
  • Malabsorptive surgeries: Gastric bypass, Gastric sleeve, Deodanals wich are malabsorptive surgery. It reduces stomach size as well as instenstine reduction. This type of surgery changes the way the food is absorbed by the body. It is complicated compare to restrictive surgery.

3. What are the benefits of Gastric banding weight loss surgery?

Gastric banding is a laparoscopic surgery and requires minimal incision. There is no cut put to stomach or intenstine and recovery is also very fast. It is reversible and can be adjusted too. There is almost no chance of any complications.

4. What are the disadvantages of Gastric banding?

The weight loss you can gain is average. You can lose about 21% of excess weight in a year and about 47% after two years. There are chances that over the years you will regain the weight.

5. What are the benefits of Gastric bypass?

You can reduce excess weight very quickly. If you maintain it, then you won’t regain much. You will improve on your health related problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes etc.

6. What are the disadvantages of Gastric bypass?

You need regular follow-up. There are chances of complications and short term risks associated with it are lung collapse, respiratory problems, infection, haemorrhage etc. Long term risk includes osteoporosis, metabolic bone disease etc. You are deficient in nutrition and needs to take supplementary medicines.

Before you decide for weight loss surgery, think of all the alternatives, go through its pros and cons, take expert doctor’s advice and take wise decision.

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