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Important Factors to Consider Before Addressing Unhealthy Excess Weight Through Bariatric Surgery

Important Factors to Consider Before Addressing Unhealthy Excess Weight Through Bariatric Surgery

For many of those who are clinically obese, bariatric surgery is a realistic option for health improvement.  Serious considerations must be made, however, before deciding to proceed with this type of surgery.

Even the less-invasive laparoscopic bariatric surgery carries with it some significant risks.  Your doctor should discuss these with you as you determine whether to undergo such a procedure.  All surgery is associated with the risks of infection and bodily rejection of surgical materials; additionally, since bariatric surgery is typically performed on patients with multiple wellness risks brought on by their obesity, it can be associated with further dangers.  For instance, a patient with a heart weakened by the complications of excess consumption over the decades will have heightened risks when undergoing an operation.

 

 

Also crucial to consider is the aftermath of fat-reducing surgery.  Patients are put on restrictive eating plans following the procedure in order to accommodate their shrunken stomachs.  In the course of time, post-operative patients will feel very full after eating what formerly seemed like a small amount of food.  Some experience gastrointestinal pain after consuming more than modest quantities of food.  Some even become sick because their bodies are no longer able to process large quantities of food at a time.

One’s dietary makeup will certainly be altered as well following gastric bypass surgery or stomach banding.  Patients can be asked to drastically reduce sugar intake and alcohol consumption.  Some patients report deriving less pleasure from eating following such operations.  Perhaps most shocking is that the weight initially lost may be regained as the patient becomes accustomed to his or her new stomach.  The shrunken stomach may even stretch back to some extent with time.

None of this is to say that bariatric surgery is all bad; in fact, many who undergo this type of procedure lose (and keep off) significant weight and see many resulting improvements in their health.  However, life after bariatric surgery will not be a magical existence of healthiness without effort.  As is the case generally, keeping trim after bariatric surgery demands a rethinking of the way one approaches food.

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