Is Gastric Bypass Surgery Safe?

Is Gastric Bypass Surgery Safe?

More people are struggling with obesity and as a result, are suffering from serious health issues as side effects. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, over a third of the population of American adults is now obese.

Obesity comes with a number of health risks including stroke, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. One of the procedures that are recommended for people who are severely overweight is gastric bypass surgery. However, this procedure also been clouded with doubts as to whether it is safe and reliable even though weight surgery is now a common intervention that is being embraced by patients who want to overcome obesity.

What is Gastric Bypass Surgery and How Does It Work?

To help you know if this procedure is safe, it’s important to understand how gastric bypass surgery works. There are two main steps involved in a gastric bypass surgery:

• Step 1 – Creating a Small Pouch

The first step includes the subdivision of the stomach into one large portion and a smaller one. The small part is then sewn to create a bag that can hold about a cup of food. Such a small stomach helps people feel full quickly, and this strategy is also referred to as “restrictive” due to the fact the small stomach will prevent one from taking more food.

• Step 2 – Bypass

The second part of the Gastric Bypass Surgery involves the disconnection of the small stomach from the big part of the stomach as well as the first part of the small intestines. It is then connected to a part of the small intestines a bit farther down in a surgical technique referred to as “Roux-en-Y.”

Is This Procedure Safe?

Many people are worried this procedure may not be safe. While it may work for a majority of people, there are few complications can occur. Some of these complications include ulcers, digestive problems, wound infections, and bleeding. About 1% to 5% of patients experience complications that are life-threatening like heart attack, blood clots, severe bleeding, infection and leaks in surgical connections.

To minimize this risk, it’s advisable to choose centers that conduct more than 100 weight surgeries each year. Deaths following gastric bypass surgeries are rare and could be estimated at 0.2% to 0.5%, so if done by a highly experienced surgeon the procedure is safe.

Benefits After Gastric Bypass

There are post-surgery benefits that patients will enjoy. Patients on average will lose 60% of their extra weight, so someone who is 200 pounds overweight would lose about 120 pounds. After the surgery, many problems that are related to being overweight will disappear. The most common are obstructive sleep apnea, diabetes, asthma, and high blood pressure. Losing weight also comes as a lasting lifestyle change that helps to improve the general health of the patient.

Losing weight is a topic that has elicited a variety of health concerns. The good news is that people who are obese have many solutions to try out. Some of them will opt for the long path of working out and changing their diet while others will choose to cut their weight by undergoing surgery.

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