Exercise and diet alone often fails to effectively treat people with extreme and excessive obesity. Bariatric surgery is an operation that's performed so as to assist such individuals reduce their weight or body fat. According to Dr. Samrat Jankar who is one of the best Pune based Gastroenterologist, evidence suggests that bariatric surgery may lower death rates for patients with severe obesity, especially when including healthy eating and lifestyle changes after surgery.

Principles of bariatric surgery
The basic principle of bariatric surgery is to limit food intake and reduce the absorption of food within the stomach and intestines. Says Dr. Harsh Sheth.
The digestion process begins within the mouth where food is chewed and mixed with saliva and other enzyme-containing secretions. The food then reaches the stomach where it's mixed with digestive juices and softened in order to absorb the nutrients and calories. Digestion then becomes faster as food moves into the duodenum (first a part of the tiny intestine) where it's mixed with bile and digestive juice.
“Bariatric surgery is meant to change or interrupt this digestion process in order that food isn't softened and absorbed within the usual way. A reduction within the amount of nutrients and calories absorbed enables patients to reduce body fat & weight and thus reducing their risk for obesity-related health risks or disorders.” Says specialists.

What are the advantages of bariatric surgery?
Bariatric surgery currently is the best and fastest option for significant and long-lasting weight loss in morbidly obese people. Alongside weight loss, many obesity-related health issues tend to resolve alongside the resulting weight loss, enhancing the patient’s quality of life.
The anticipation improves in many, as does general health, and skill to do daily activities. It's important to follow a healthy lifestyle and eating habits to sustain the weight loss and improved health.

Body Mass Index (BMI)
Body Mass Index (BMI), a measure of height in reference to weight, is majorly used to define levels of obesity and help determine whether bariatric intervention is required. Clinically severe obesity describes a BMI of over 40 kg/m2 or a BMI of over 35 kg/m2 together with severe health problems.

Health problems related to obesity include type 2 diabetes, arthritis, heart condition, and severe obstructive apnea. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the utilization of adjustable gastric banding for patients with a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or more who even have a minimum of one among these conditions.

Types of Bariatric Surgery
There are various sorts of bariatric surgeries which will be performed. Surgery could also be performed using an “open” approach, which involves cutting open the abdomen or by means of laparoscopy, during which surgical instruments are guided into the abdomen through small half-inch incisions. Today, most bariatric surgery is laparoscopic because compared with open surgery, it requires less extensive cuts, causes relatively minimal tissue damage, results in fewer post-operative complications and allows for earlier hospital discharge.

There are four sorts of operations that are offered:
Adjustable gastric banding (AGB)
Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB)
Biliopancreatic diversion with a duodenal switch (BPD-DS)
Vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG)
Each of the surgery types has advantages and drawbacks and various patient factors affect which procedure is chosen including BMI, eating habits, health problems associated with obesity, and number of previous stomach surgeries. The patient and provider should discuss the foremost suitable option by considering the advantages and risks of every sort of surgery.

How long is recovery from bariatric surgery?
With a laparoscopic surgery a patient is typically discharged in two or three days and most patients are going to be ready to start their normal activities in three to 5 weeks, counting on their original stage of obesity and other health conditions.

Surgical and post-operative risks
The bariatric surgery itself is usually a secure procedure, especially with recent technological advancements within the surgical field. The consequences of surgery on the gastrointestinal system might pose specific risks like nutritional deficiency caused by malabsorption, resulting in conditions like anemia or osteoporosis.

Bariatric surgery might not be suitable for everybody, and in some cases, it will not achieve the specified weight loss. The patient has got to combine it with modified lifestyle, diet and activity. people that have had bariatric surgery got to adhere to a rigorous and lifelong diet and exercise to prevent complications and to avoid putting on weight after surgery. Additionally, patients may develop excess loose and folded skin that needs further surgery to get rid of and tighten.

As with all kinds of surgery, bariatric surgery is related to risks including internal bleeding, deep vein thrombosis, infections, and embolism (blood clot within the lungs). it's estimated that the danger of dying shortly after bariatric surgery is around 1 in 200. However, considering the multitude of obesity-related diseases affecting many organ systems, bariatric surgery could also be the safest option for several morbidly obese people, despite its risks.

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