While the cosmetic benefits may appear to be the most obvious reason for undergoing bariatric surgery, the health benefits are actually much more significant. With a host of comorbidities associated with obesity, it is important to understand just how bariatric procedures can help you live a full and healthy life.
Arthritis – Back/Joint Disease
Arthritis – osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition that affects the joints in the knees, hips, and lower back. Over time, the cartilage (padding that helps cushion joints), and the bones in the joints wear away. This destruction causes chronic pain. Obesity leads to and increases the risk of arthritis. The symptoms of osteoarthritis including pain, stiffness, and loss of mobility are worse in the obese population as joints are put under greater stress and pressure. Therefore, musculoskeletal problems like osteoarthritis are much more prevalent in the obese population than among normal weight individuals. Health studies show that obesity is a strong predictor of symptoms arthritis, especially in the knees. After bariatric surgery and the subsequent weight loss, the symptoms of osteoarthritis can be dramatically improved or resolved, or the condition can be avoided completely.
Asthma
Scientific studies have shown that excess weight increases the risk and severity of asthma. Most patients who had asthma before weight loss surgery find that they have fewer and less severe attacks or sometimes none at all as they lose excess weight and fat. Several studies indicate that bariatric surgery decreases asthma severity. Most patients who were on steroids for their asthma before bariatric surgery were able to stop their steroids within 18 months after their surgery (as described at the 25th meeting of the ASMBS). In addition, more than half of patients with asthma show improvement in the severity of symptoms and a decrease in the need to use their medications.
Benefits of Sleeve Gastrectomy
Gastric sleeve surgery (sleeve gastrectomy) is a simpler procedure to perform than gastric bypass, resulting in fewer complications and faster recovery times. The gastrointestinal tract is not changed in a sleeve gastrectomy, decreasing possible complications, like vitamin deficiencies that occur with gastric bypass surgery. Patients can lose weight similar to gastric bypass surgery, over a significantly shorter time.
One reason the gastric sleeve results are so positive is, when we do the operation, we take out a section of your stomach that produces a hormone called Ghrelin. Ghrelin is known as the hunger hormone. It stimulates feelings of hunger, so when we remove this portion of the stomach, our patients find their hunger levels drop, and it is easier to eat less. Additionally, we are removing about 70 – 80% of your stomach, so the stomach feels full with a much smaller volume of food.
For this reason, patients tend to eat less and feel full more quickly. Another benefit of this surgery is that your stomach will continue to function normally. As a result, you can still eat most of your favorite foods with no worries about suffering from dumping syndrome, which is characterized by abdominal discomfort and other related symptoms. You also do not have to worry about foreign bodies being implanted in you, as is the case with lap band surgery.
Benefits of Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding
The most obvious and rewarding benefits of laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding surgery are dramatic weight loss and improved quality of life. Patients lose an average of 50 to 70 percent of their excess body weight over a period of two to three years following laparoscopic gastric banding. Gradual weight loss in the years following the procedure can bring significant improvements in health.
Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding surgery patients can reduce the risk of developing severe health conditions related to morbid obesity, such as hypertension, high cholesterol, heart disease, sleep apnea, stroke, cancer, type 2 diabetes, acid reflux disease, asthma, and osteoarthritis. With laparoscopic gastric banding, you’ll be able to make dramatic improvements to your overall health, reduce the risk of serious conditions and illnesses, and see both immediate and long-term results.
Benefits of Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass
With laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery, patients can lose an average of up to 80 percent of their excess body weight with the most dramatic weight loss occurring in the first year after surgery.
These types of sensational Roux-en-Y gastric bypass results are what make this the most prevalent form of bariatric surgery. Roux-En-Y gastric bypass results are both quick and long-lasting and have been proven to increase the lifespan of patients by curing or dramatically improving diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, and other life threatening illnesses related to obesity. Gastric bypass surgery has a 40-year history of success. The procedure has been thoroughly studied and its results are well documented.
An additional advantage to this “gold standard” of bariatric procedures is that there are no adjustments to be made after roux-en-y gastric bypass surgery. Roux-En-Y gastric bypass, or laparoscopic gastric bypass, remains a widely utilized and successful solution.
Cancer
There are many types of cancers associated with obesity. According to the American Cancer Society (2003), obesity increases the risk of: breast cancer, cervical cancer, esophageal cancer, gall bladder cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, stomach cancer, and uterine cancer. The relationship between obesity and cancer is not well understood, but it is believed that obesity causes a general inflammatory state to the body that leads to increased cancer risk. The American Cancer Society (2008) reports that about 14 to 20 percent of all cancer deaths in the U.S. can be attributed to excess weight or obesity. Since cancer risk increases with obesity, losing weight with bariatric surgery may lower your risk of obesity-related cancers, among other health benefits.
Cardiovascular Disease
There is a strong correlation between heart disease and obesity. The more over-weight a person is, the more likely he or she is to develop heart disease. An obese person has more body mass due to having more body fat. This increased mass means the person has more blood flowing that has to be pumped by the heart throughout the body. Therefore, the heart must work harder, straining to pump the excess blood throughout the body.
This strain is often increased with exertion. In addition, obesity contributes to other cardiovascular risk factors (like high blood pressure and high cholesterol) that worsen heart disease. It is proven that bariatric surgery will drastically reduce your chance of developing heart disease by reducing your weight.
Depression
Research has shown that there is no clear one-way connection between obesity and depression. Instead, studies have shown that the two tend to feed off each other in a vicious, self-destructive circle.
Obesity is certainly linked to depression. Studies have shown that obese people are about 25 percent more likely to experience a mood disorder like depression compared with those who are not obese. Obesity can cause poor self-image, low self-esteem, and social isolation, all known contributors to depression. Those who are obese can also find themselves ostracized, stereotyped, and discriminated against. The extra weight carried around by obese people can result in chronic joint pain as well as serious diseases like diabetes and hypertension, all of which have been linked to depression.
A study of people who underwent bariatric surgery for their obesity found that as they shed pounds, they also shed their depression. A year after surgery, the subjects had experienced a 77% loss of excess body weight, and an accompanying 18% reduction in symptoms of depression. Some studies show that with weight loss, depression can be improved or cured in up to 90% of patients. Younger people, women, and those who experienced greater weight loss were more likely to feel less depressed.
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease
Gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, is a fairly common health problem that occurs when the valve that keeps food and stomach acid down in the stomach doesn’t work well and the food and stomach acid are forced back up into the esophagus. When you gain weight, the extra pounds put pressure on your stomach, forcing food and stomach acid to go back up into your esophagus.
The esophagus, unlike the stomach, is not suited to protect itself against these more acidic substances and damage to the esophagus, sometimes irreversible, occurs. It is also believed that chronic damage to the esophagus that occurs during GERD can lead to esophageal cancer. The symptoms of GERD include heartburn, persistent cough, severe chest pain, and the taste of acid in your mouth.
The fact that obesity and GERD are linked actually makes the cure for GERD completely attainable. Lose weight and you will be able to effectively reduce the stress on your organs and reduce or eliminate the symptoms associated with GERD. If your symptoms of GERD are related to obesity, then weight loss is the answer for curing it. Relief of heartburn due to GERD occurs soon after surgery in more than 90% of patients.
High Blood Cholesterol
Too much of a fatty substance, called cholesterol, in your blood, can build up in your blood vessels. This buildup narrows the vessel, causes damage, and can lead to heart disease or a stroke. If you are obese, you are more likely to have high levels of cholesterol in your blood than people who aren’t obese. In addition, if you have extra fat around your waist rather than around your hips and buttocks you are likely to have high levels of cholesterol in your blood. Also, eating too many saturated fats can raise your cholesterol levels. About 80% of patients who have a high cholesterol level will have a normal cholesterol level within a few months after surgery.
High Blood Pressure
Hypertension is the term for elevated, or high, blood pressure. If your blood pressure is 135/85 or higher each time it is measured and you are under age 65, you have hypertension. Normal blood pressure is generally defined as less than 120/80mm Hg (millimeters of mercury pressure). The maximum acceptable systolic (the first number listed) pressure is 120, which is developed when the heart is pumping; and the maximum acceptable diastolic (the second number) pressure is 80mm Hg.
As either or both of these numbers rise, the work of the heart and blood vessels (to pump the blood through the body) increases and thereby increases the risk of major complications, such as heart attacks, hardening of the arteries, stroke, and heart failure.
Many different factors are associated with high blood pressure: heredity, sex, age, race, stress, smoking, a diet high in salt, heavy use of alcohol, and especially obesity. Many of these risk factors (like heredity, age, sex, and race) cannot be controlled so it is important to control those that can (like obesity, smoking, diet, and alcohol use).
Blood pressure is determined by a complex system of circulating hormones, many of which are made in fat tissue. These hormones control the diameter of the arteries and thereby control the pressure in the arteries.
The reasons that obesity causes hypertension are multiple, but it seems that the excess fat tissue secretes substances that cause hypertension. In addition, with obesity there are generally higher amounts of insulin produced (because of the excess fat tissue). This excess insulin also elevates blood pressure.
By losing weight (and, in turn, losing fat tissue) your body will produce less of these hormones that cause hypertension. The weight loss that results from bariatric surgery has hypertension cure rates (meaning patients can come off their hypertension medications and maintain consistently normal blood pressure), of up to 98%.
