Losing weight continues to be based on the facts that a person needs to exercise more and eat less. I’ll weight-loss plans, treatments, surgeries, and diets etc. are all based on this single fact. One cannot lose weight without cutting the number of calories eaten daily or by burning up additional calories through activities and exercise.

Think about all the weight-loss plans and programs that are advertised on the television. Virtually all of them are based on a restricted calorie diet while they encourage you to get up and be more active. As you can see, there’s no magic plan and unfortunately no magic weight-loss surgery either.

The benefit of bariatric or weight-loss surgery is that you will have a feeling of fullness after eating very small amounts of food. Now this may sound like a good idea to someone who hasn’t had the surgery. The fact is that food is much more than an energy source for humans. The social aspects of eating cannot be minimized and neither should the emotional feelings that come with food.

While physically you may feel full, the fact that you have an eaten enough emotionally means that you will be unsatisfied. It’s the psychological part of any weight-loss plan including surgery that’s the most difficult to address. You must be psychologically prepared to do without the emotional comfort food offers to many.

From a societal point of view, imagine the difficulties of dealing with business lunches and family get-togethers and not being able to eat. This is the reality of what a weight-loss surgery patient is expected to live with on a daily basis.

A good surgical prospect is one that is more than 100 pounds over their ideal weight and are starting to have health concerns are difficulties. These are the people who have tried all the diets programs and plans without success. It’s only through being extremely motivated that anyone can overcome the social and emotional aspects of eating and food.

Make no mistake, these are very strong and deeply seated characteristics of many humans. Our high-tech lifestyle has moved us from very active physically and demanding work to intellectual endeavors. It has unfortunately not helped us with the very issues that have caused the obesity epidemic.

Tags: Laparoscopic, lap band surgery, bariatric surgery

Plenty of individuals who have made use of lap band weight loss surgery, counting also famous persons, are overjoyed by this weight loss method. Nevertheless, before you decide that it is the best way for you to lose the weight, you must consider the advantageous and the bad side of it.

Even though lap band weight loss surgery is a exceptional way for losing excess pounds, it should be first and foremost applied to deal with individuals that are regarded as morbidly obese.

Because there are sincere dangers of having this sort of surgical treatment, lap band surgery used to be utilized only when the dangers of surgical treatment were reduced by the dangers of wellbeing that the individual is presently facing. Should you be interested in this sort of surgical treatment for weight loss, you will most likely need to be diagnosed with medical conditions that are caused or made worse by being obese.

For example, it could be conditions in which diabetes has advanced or blood pressure is raised too much. By losing the excess weight that you are carrying, with or without the help of lap band weight loss surgery, you are more able of undoing or slowing the growth of medical conditions such as these.

What you need to also understand is that weight loss surgery is more important to salvaging your life then improving the way that you look. Numerous obese people find that serious weight loss in any form is extremely demanding and presents almost no instant satisfaction.

It is extremely hard to drop even a couple of pounds, without even mentioning the pounds that most overweight individuals thinking about lap band weight loss surgery are in need of losing. By means of this method of weight loss, the body really does loses weight quickly, just for the reason that you can not eat as large amount of food as you used to be able to.

To give you these health benefits, lap band surgery in fact, partitions your stomach in half. By dividing your stomach into 2 parts, the smaller of the two is at the top, the individual will feel his appetite satisfied sooner, and will eat just tiny quantities of food.

This is the end result of the stomach, after the surgical treatment being significantly smaller. Most of the people that have used lap band weight loss surgery will ingest more tiny meals rather then a few large ones.

Through this weight loss method you will actually lose a sizable amount of excess weight. So in conclusion, if you have tried to drop a significant number of pounds by other techniques and failed to succeed, lap band weight loss surgery might really be the solution to your problems.

Tags: weight loss, gastric bypass, lap band surgery

If youve opted for weight loss surgery, the cost of such a procedure can be quite daunting. Many people simply cant afford the surgery without taking out huge loans which could end up crippling them financially. Is the surgery really worth the cost?

As with all major decisions in a persons life, the benefits must be matched and compared with the cost, whether thats emotionally, physically or financially. With weight loss surgery costing so much, its critical that the reasons youre opting for the surgery are thought through extremely thorough, and in most cases discussed with your doctor.

If for example youre suffering from a number of ailments and conditions because of morbid obesity, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, respiratory problems etc, and with the immediate health concerns morbid obesity brings possible early death, up to 7 times the risk of death from a heart attack and all the added problems that come with it just trying to operate in society alone, you may feel the cost simply isnt an issue, but you must work it into your current and future finances.

About the author:
Article by Beverley Brooke, visit the section on the gastric bypass on her website for more information on weight loss surgery and the gastric bypass
http://www.healthandfinesse.com/gastric-bypass.html

Tags: obesity, morbid obesity, bariatric surgery

For many people losing weight is not simply a casual struggle but is a lifelong battle against those unwanted pounds. If you have struggled to lose weight you will know only too well how disheartening the process can be. You try one diet after another, counting every calorie and depriving yourself of all your favorite foods. You join a slimming group to benefit from the help and support of others and even join your local health club, but all to no avail. Perhaps your diet and exercise program works for a while but, as soon as you ease off, the weight comes back and before you know where you are you’re into a cycle of coming on and off diets several times a year.

Today, more and more people in just this situation are beginning to learn about gastric bypass surgery and, in particular, new techniques such as laparoscopic gastric band surgery.

As the number of people who are not simply overweight but are obese grows gastric bypass surgery is becoming increasingly popular, as it provides a fast and, with the patient’s help, permanent solution to the problem of extreme weight loss. Now, if you’re not familiar with the term gastric bypass then learning more about gastric bypass surgery is easier than ever as more and more people are turning to surgical intervention for extreme weight loss and information is now readily available on every aspect of surgical weight loss. Gastric bypass surgery is a process by which a surgeon creates a new compact version of your stomach designed to restrict the amount of food that you can eat. At the same time, in some types of gastric bypass surgery, part of the small intestine is also bypassed so that you are restricted in the number of calories that you can absorb from the now limited quantity of food that you are able to eat. Surgery has also advanced considerably in recent years and many forms of weight loss surgery, including the laparoscopic gastric band procedure, are designed to be minimally invasive reducing the risks of surgery and recovery times considerably.

Although there are some risks involved with gastric bypass surgery, there are also many benefits in addition to the obvious benefit of losing weight. For example, many patients find that their quality of sleep is improved considerably and those with diabetes find that the condition is very much improved, if not indeed cured. Yet others find an additional benefit in the reduction of high blood pressure and other heart and circulatory problems.

If you are severely overweight then it is important to educate yourself on both the benefits and risks of gastric bypass surgery so that you can decide whether or not this particular route might provide the answer to your weight loss problem. If you think that it might just be the answer, then discuss it with your doctor and see what he says.

About the Author

Visit GastricBypassFacts.info for more information about laparoscopic gastric band surgery and other aspects of weight loss surgery

Tags: weight loss, gastric bypass, morbid obesity

Gastric bypass surgery makes your stomach smaller. This causes you to feel full with less food so you consume fewer calories. The procedure also bypasses part of your small intestine, so fewer calories are actually absorbed into your system. Fewer calories will ultimately lead to weight loss. When you eat food, it passes through the esophagus and enters into the stomach, where gastric acids soften the food and begin to dissolve it. Next, this semi-liquid mixture enters into the small intestine, where most of the calories and essential nutrients are absorbed by your body. Finally, whatever is left passes into the large intestine and eventually through the colon as it is expelled from the body. Gastric bypass surgery restructures the stomach and intestinal system, resulting in intentional malabsorption and limiting the patient’s ability to eat large quantities of food.

Common Gastric Bypass Procedures

The most common gastric bypass surgery is a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. The surgeon will create a small pouch at the top of the stomach using surgical staples. Next, he will connect this smaller pouch directly to the middle of the small intestine (called the jejunum). This causes the food to bypass the lower part of the stomach and the first part of the small intestine (called the duodenum).

Historically, the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass was does as an open procedure, which means the surgeon makes a large incision in the outer stomach wall to access the abdominal cavity. Today, the laparoscopic procedure is more common for those who qualify. This method is performed by making up to five small incisions in the outer stomach wall and using extremely small instruments and a tiny camera to guide them.

Risks and Benefits of Gastric Bypass Surgery

Typically, the surgery requires a two to six day hospital stay, depending on which procedure you have done. Usually, you can return to normal activities within three to five weeks. The type of work you do may require a longer convalescence period.

Some of the benefits of gastric bypass surgery are: ? Most people lose between 60% and 80% of their excess weight over a two to three year period. ? The majority of patients manage to keep at least 50% of their excess weight off permanently. ? Other obesity-related health problems, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, are often minimized or eliminated.

There are also several serious risks with gastric bypass surgery, such as: ? Peritonitis, a severe infection caused by a leak from the stomach into the abdominal cavity from a ruptured staple or stitch. ? The possibility of a blood clot breaking away from the surgical area and getting caught in the lung (called a pulmonary embolism).

However, recent studies indicate that only about 2% to 3% of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass patients die within 90 days of the procedure. (Source: “Gastric Bypass - Let the Morbidly Obese Beware”, by Neil Osterweil, Senior Associate Editor, MedPage Today.) Common Side Effects of Gastric Bypass Surgery

Gastric bypass surgery can also cause several less serious short- and long-term side effects, such as: ? Dumping syndrome, which can occur when food moves too quickly through the small intestine. This disorder causes nausea, weakness, sweating, faintness, and possibly diarrhea soon after eating and is generally caused by eating highly refined foods, like sugars. ? Developing gallstones or a nutritional deficiency, such as anemia or osteoporosis. ? The connection between the stomach and the intestines can narrow, causing nausea and vomiting after eating. ? Patients can develop stomach ulcers or a hernia. ? The bypassed part of the stomach can enlarge, causing bloating and hiccups.

Of course, any surgery has some risks associated with it. That is why it is essential that you consider all of the benefits and risks associated with gastric bypass surgery and talk them over with your doctor and perhaps even a mental health professional.

About the Author

Craig Thompson, better known as “Big T,” a former sumo wrestler who used to tip the scales at 400 pounds has since reinvented himself as a singer and bandleader. As one of the earliest to have Gastric Bypass Surgery, in 1997.

Tags: Weight Loss Surgery, obesity, bariatric surgery

To understand the mechanics of the gastric bypass we need to start by considering the normal digestive process.

When we eat, food passes initially into the stomach where it is broken down by a strong acid solution. Once the digestive process has been completed in the stomach, food moves into the duodenum, which is the first part of the small intestine, and bile and pancreatic juice is added to the mix to continue the process of digestion. It is here in the duodenum that iron and calcium are absorbed into the body.

Food then continues on down the small intestine, which is almost 20 feet in length, passing first through the jejunum and then through the ileum and it is here that the body extracts the bulk of the calories and nutrients contained in the food that we eat. Finally, any food particles that cannot be digested are passed into the large intestine where they are stored until they are passed out of the body.

We gain weight because the food that we eat contains more calories than we need to support the level of activity within the body and so the body, having burnt up the calories that it needs, stores any left-over calories as fat which is dispersed throughout the body.

Gastric bypass works by altering the body’s digestive process in one of two ways.

One form of gastric bypass (referred to as restrictive surgery) physically restricts the quantity of food that we can eat and so not only stops us from consuming more calories than the body needs but reduces our intake to fewer calories than are necessary and so forces the body to start burning off the reserves that it has laid down as fat.

The second form of gastric bypass (referred to as malabsorptive surgery) does not restrict the quantity of food that we can eat but creates a new passage for that food so that a substantial proportion of the small intestine is bypassed and the body is able to extract only a small number of calories. Once again this forces the body to dig into its fat reserves.

In many cases gastric bypass operations are in fact a combination of these two forms and will both restrict the intake of food and reduce adsorption by re-routing the food past much of the small intestine.

There are many variations of the gastric bypass and each has its advantages as well as its disadvantages. Some forms will be more suited to one individual than to another and in other cases it will be very much a matter of personal preference in consultation with your surgeon.

The gastric bypass is a powerful solution to the problem of obesity but it comes at a price and is not without both risk and complication. It is also important to understand that the gastric bypass is not in itself a magic cure for obesity and that you will need to learn to work with your new digestive system by adopting a whole new set of eating habits and a dramatic change to your lifestyle if you are to maintain the weight lost as a result of surgery.

Once the initial and virtually automatic weight loss has been achieved following the gastric bypass it is quite easy to abuse your new digestive system and to start putting the weight back on again.

Tags: morbid obesity, obesity, Laparoscopic

This surgical operation aims at reducing weight by eliminating extra pound of flesh from your stomach along with cutting short the length of your intestine. However this weight loss surgery should be the last option of reining in increasing weight. If you are incapable of reducing weight through dietary and exercise measures then only you should opt for surgery. The surgery is known as Bariatic or Laparoscopic surgery.

Before undergoing this surgery you must be sure that you need it, otherwise you carry great risk of deadly consequences as byproducts of this operation. An unneeded surgery may disrupt the normal digestive process forever. Making a decision on this life transmogrifying surgery requires you to be fully aware of all pros and cones that you would bear once you undergo the operation. A seasoned surgeon having expertise in Bariatic surgeries happens to be a prerequisite with this surgery.

Post operation care is of extreme importance for this weight loss remedy. If you are not sure that you would be able to follow post operation care and restrictions, you must give up the idea of undergoing laparoscopic surgery. You are greatly needed to regulate your food intake for a long time after the surgery.

Because of the risk associated with operation all people undergoing Bariatric surgery are made to sign a consent letter that is a proof of a person’s willingness to undergo the surgery. This surgery usually takes half an hour and patient is discharged from the hospital in one or two days. Earlier this surgery needed a good some of money, however it has no longer remain a costly affair. In fact it has become quite affordable for all.

Apart from gastrointestinal disorders the surgery may facilitate stones in gallbladder. Osteoporosis could be also one of negative results of this surgery.

There could be various types of these surgical operations aimed at reducing weight. Seeing level of your obesity and considering your health history, a surgeon decides on the type of surgery that is to be performed on you.

To sum up, surgery would drastically reduce your weight provided you are determined to take good care of yourself post surgery.

Tags: morbid obesity, Laparoscopic, lap band surgery

The gastric banding (Lap-Band) surgery is the most preferred weight loss surgery today. It offers many advantages over other surgeries such as less healing time, less pain after the surgery and the ability to resume normal activities more quickly after the surgery. The Lap-Band surgery is the newest, the least invasive and also the only weight loss surgery that is considered to be reversible.

How is the gastric banding surgery performed?

Before the surgery, a doctor will carefully look into your health history, check your weight and BMI as well as your willingness to change your life. After determining that you are a good candidate for the Lap-Band surgery, your doctor will carefully go over the surgery guidelines and expectations, because those patients who have the Lap-Band weight loss surgery have to make the commitment to change not only their eating habits, but also must be willing to undergo an exercise regimen.

The doctor will also discuss with you other specialists you will eventually need to see including a dietitian, a therapist, a psychologist and other medical specialists.

When it is time for your Lap-Band surgery, you will be admitted to the hospital the day before your surgery. This is so that the doctors and nurses can asses your health and make sure that no foods are eaten before the surgery is performed. The surgeries are performed under general anesthesia and most of them laparoscopically, which means that the incisions are smaller and the surgeon uses a small camera to guide the surgery.

This is the preferred method for both doctors and patients because it causes less pain and the healing time is much faster than with an open procedure. In addition, there are less wound complications when the Lap-Band surgery is performed this way.

During the gastric banding surgery, an adjustable elastomer ring made of silicone is placed around the upper part of your stomach. The ring is hollow and can later be filled with saline. This band creates a smaller upper pouch that serves as the new stomach.

How do I lose weight with the Lap-Band?

Because the upper pouch of your stomach is much smaller, you will not only be able to eat smaller quantities of food at a time but you will also feel satisfied with less food. Due to the reduced calorie intake over time, your body will start to burn fat and as a result you will lose weight.

After the band is in place, it is connected to a tube and an access port placed beneath the skin during surgery. This is the area where the doctor can add or reduce the saline to the ring. If the band is too loose, the weight will not be lost as quickly. The doctor can then add more saline to adjust the ring accordingly. If weight loss is too fast or if other circumstances require that you eat more, then the doctor will take some of the saline out of the ring.

The possibility to adjust the band is a feature unique to the Lap-Band. This feature combined with the other advantages of gastric banding over other surgeries makes gastric banding with the Lap-Band the most popular weight loss surgery today.

How much weight can I expect to lose?

Most patients who have the Lap-Band weight loss surgery can expect to lose around 36 percent of their excess weight, however it does take time. This weight loss is usually over a two to three year period.

Losing weight with the help of a Lap-Band still envolves physical exercises and other adjustments in your lifestyle to make the surgery work to your advantage. It?s critical that you change your eating habits. For at least five weeks after the surgery, there are strict dietary guidelines that must be followed. A good dietician can show you how to prepare healthier, well-balanced meals and how to eat in the right way.

About the Author

Get more valuable weight loss tips and information on different weight loss surgeries on our website: visit http://www.gastricbandingweightloss.com today. You will also find links to other valuable dieting, fitness and nutrition resources like healthy weight loss recipes. Enjoy!

Tags: morbid obesity, obesity, Laparoscopic

If you?re looking for a safer alternative to gastric bypass, you might consider a doctor-supervised very low calorie diet (VLCD), without the surgery. VLCDs have been shown to result in weight loss of up to 15 to 20 percent of the patient?s initial weight in three to six months, but follow-up therapy is needed to maintain the weight loss.

The diet itself may require hospitalization or a stay in a treatment center so your physician can monitor your progress and health. This can be expensive, but there are some advantages over gastric bypass surgery. Although there are some risks, a very low calorie diet is far safer than surgery when the patient receives regular care from a physician.

The diet usually consists of liquid shakes or bars that have been specially formulated to include all the vitamins and minerals the patient needs. Using the pre-made shakes and bars makes it easy to regulate the number of calories without sacrificing nutrition.

A new five-year study financed by a large BlueCross BlueShield insurance plan is designed to find out if a VLCD, with or without weight loss medication, is as effective in treating obesity as the more expensive and dangerous weight loss surgeries. At this time, most group insurance policies do not cover any treatment associated with obesity, but the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure is being added as a benefit to some plans.

Obesity treatment was scourged from most policies after the diet pill scams of the 80?s and 90?s, but insurance companies are discovering that the costs of obesity are extremely high. If weight loss treatment, either surgery or doctor-monitored VLCD, can reduce the incidence of diabetes and heart disease that accompany obesity, the reduction in these chronic illnesses would more than pay for the additional costs of covering weight loss treatment. If it is proven that a VLCD results in long-term weight loss, this treatment may be added as a benefit to some policies.

A VLCD diet contains around 800 calories a day and the typical patient can lose up to 44 pounds in three months. In past studies it has been found that most obese patients who reduce their weight through doctor-supervised diet will regain much of the lost weight unless they receive ongoing behavioral therapy and nutritional counseling. This is also true for some post-gastric bypass patients.

There are always side effects associated with major changes in diet, and patients on a very low calorie diet may experience fatigue, constipation, nausea or diarrhea. These symptoms are usually temporary. The fast weight loss can also trigger one of the major complications associated with gastric bypass surgery ? gallstones or gallbladder infection. Medication is available to reduce this risk, but it is important to become aware of the symptoms of gallstones and seek immediate treatment if the symptoms appear.

It is possible that a low-calorie diet of 1,000 to 1,200 calories a day may be just as effective for long-term weight loss as a VLCD. The weight will drop more slowly, but the diet is easier for most people to accept as a long-term lifestyle.

Behavioral changes are the most important aspect of any obesity treatment, either surgical or dietary. The weight will only stay off as long as new, healthier diets are maintained. Regular exercise is equally important.

Behavioral modification and nutritional counseling can help, and your physician or the obesity center at a local hospital should be able to give you a referral to a qualified counselor. The obesity center should also be able to assist you in finding a physician who can provide the necessary medical supervision if you decide to try a very low calorie diet as an alternative to gastric bypass.

About the Author:

To learn more about alternatives to gastric bypass surgery, the complications of gastric bypass, and post-gastric bypass diet visit http://www.1gastricbypass.com

Tags: Weight Loss Surgery, lap band surgery, obesity

If you?re looking for a safer alternative to gastric bypass, you might consider a doctor-supervised very low calorie diet (VLCD), without the surgery. VLCDs have been shown to result in weight loss of up to 15 to 20 percent of the patient?s initial weight in three to six months, but follow-up therapy is needed to maintain the weight loss.

The diet itself may require hospitalization or a stay in a treatment center so your physician can monitor your progress and health. This can be expensive, but there are some advantages over gastric bypass surgery. Although there are some risks, a very low calorie diet is far safer than surgery when the patient receives regular care from a physician.

The diet usually consists of liquid shakes or bars that have been specially formulated to include all the vitamins and minerals the patient needs. Using the pre-made shakes and bars makes it easy to regulate the number of calories without sacrificing nutrition.

A new five-year study financed by a large BlueCross BlueShield insurance plan is designed to find out if a VLCD, with or without weight loss medication, is as effective in treating obesity as the more expensive and dangerous weight loss surgeries. At this time, most group insurance policies do not cover any treatment associated with obesity, but the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure is being added as a benefit to some plans.

Obesity treatment was scourged from most policies after the diet pill scams of the 80?s and 90?s, but insurance companies are discovering that the costs of obesity are extremely high. If weight loss treatment, either surgery or doctor-monitored VLCD, can reduce the incidence of diabetes and heart disease that accompany obesity, the reduction in these chronic illnesses would more than pay for the additional costs of covering weight loss treatment. If it is proven that a VLCD results in long-term weight loss, this treatment may be added as a benefit to some policies.

A VLCD diet contains around 800 calories a day and the typical patient can lose up to 44 pounds in three months. In past studies it has been found that most obese patients who reduce their weight through doctor-supervised diet will regain much of the lost weight unless they receive ongoing behavioral therapy and nutritional counseling. This is also true for some post-gastric bypass patients.

There are always side effects associated with major changes in diet, and patients on a very low calorie diet may experience fatigue, constipation, nausea or diarrhea. These symptoms are usually temporary. The fast weight loss can also trigger one of the major complications associated with gastric bypass surgery ? gallstones or gallbladder infection. Medication is available to reduce this risk, but it is important to become aware of the symptoms of gallstones and seek immediate treatment if the symptoms appear.

It is possible that a low-calorie diet of 1,000 to 1,200 calories a day may be just as effective for long-term weight loss as a VLCD. The weight will drop more slowly, but the diet is easier for most people to accept as a long-term lifestyle.

Behavioral changes are the most important aspect of any obesity treatment, either surgical or dietary. The weight will only stay off as long as new, healthier diets are maintained. Regular exercise is equally important.

Behavioral modification and nutritional counseling can help, and your physician or the obesity center at a local hospital should be able to give you a referral to a qualified counselor. The obesity center should also be able to assist you in finding a physician who can provide the necessary medical supervision if you decide to try a very low calorie diet as an alternative to gastric bypass.

About the Author:

To learn more about alternatives to gastric bypass surgery, the complications of gastric bypass, and post-gastric bypass diet visit http://www.1gastricbypass.com

Tags: Laparoscopic, morbid obesity, gastric bypass