Considering Bariatric Weight Loss Surgery
Bariatric surgery literally means weight and treatment. Bariatrics focuses on the causes, prevention and treatment of severe overweight people - usually considered obese or morbidly obese. Bariatrc surgery means that you are undergoing surgery to treat your overweight condition. Some bariatric procedures are performed using general anesthesia, while otherse use laparoscopic techniques. In laparoscopic surgery smaller instruments are connected to cameras and the doctor can view the operational site. There are two types of bariatric surgeries - restrictive (Lap Band), and combined restrice and malabsorptive (gastric bypass). Using a restrictive apporach reduces the size of your stomach through the use of staples or a band. The result? A smaller stomach for processing food, hence you cannot eat as much as you used to. The second type reduces your overall stomach capacity by bypassing a part of the small intestine. This causes a reduction in the number of calories and nutrients that your body will absorb.
What happens before Bariatric Surgery
You eat normally - chew your food in your mouth, swallow and your food goes to the stomach. Your stomach then produces stomach acids and they dissolve it into smaller particles. This liquid then passes into the small intestine where the digestive process continues. The first section of the small intestine (duodenum) processes calcium, iron and a few vitamins. The second and third sections (each about ten feen in length) do most of the absorbtion of food nutrients.
After Bariatric Surgery
After you have had bariatric surgery, the size of your stomach has bee reduced by up to ninety percent. (Yes 90!). What used to be the size of a grapefruit is now the size of an egg. Your stomach can now handle approximately three to four tablespoons worth of food. Now that the stomach is so small it drastically reduces the quantity of food that can be consumed. During the surgery the digestive tract below the stomach will also be altered. After leaving the small stomach pouch, food is re-routed to skip the first part of the small intestine and directed into the final part of the second section. Since the food essentially skips a majority of the small intestine less nutrients and calories are absorbed.
Cited References:
AnneCollins.com
Bariatric-Surgery.info