What many overlook are the life improvements after gastric bypass surgery. Gastric bypass surgery has become the most widespread and practicable option for overweight patients who desire weight loss results in less time, at an affordable cost.
How it works
Gastric bypass surgery is conducted to reduce the size of the stomach by dividing it into two sections. Using the procedure of laparoscopy, small cuts are performed in the belly to create a small pouch from the upper part of the stomach. This part is then accompanied through a bypass of the remaining stomach.
Since the stomach is now shrunk to a smaller size, only an ounce of the food can enter into it, minimizing the diet of the patient substantially. The bypass of the digestive system will not allow the stomach to absorb so much food and thus, the person loses noticeable amounts of weight.
Gastric bypass surgery causes several profound changes
Gastric bypass surgery causes several profound changes in the patient’s physiology – and psychology. Scientists have observed that this operation alters the activity of multiple genes in the body and creates significant changes in the complex hormone signalling pathways from the stomach to the brain.
That means, the way a patient perceived the tastes of foods previously have now been changed and their cravings naturally minimized after their surgery. The fact is that the desires of those delicious but unhealthy foods like chocolate cakes and hamburgers simply vanish away, enabling them to settle down at a lower weight.
Thus, patients experience real and productive changes and various life improvements after gastric bypass surgery.
Maintaining the results of the life improvements after gastric bypass surgery
Nevertheless, patients are strongly advised to follow a positive dietary plan which includes healthy foods full of vitamins and minerals. In addition, they need to carry out regular exercises to keep the body in shape and reap the benefits of their gastric bypass for a longer time.
Furthermore, with regular check-up, proper medications and effective treatments to cure minor risks that may or may not ensue following the operation, a patient can live with many life improvements after gastric bypass surgery.
We have come up with 13 life improvements after gastric bypass surgery which are proven by several studies. Some of these changes and experiences are reported by the patients themselves who have undergone the procedure successfully. These patients enjoy the life improvements after gastric bypass surgery through maintaining the diet, exercise and other integral practices post-surgery.
1. Psychologically happy and relieved
The first improvement a patient undergoes after gastric bypass surgery is feeling psychologically happy and relieved from the woes of long-standing obesity. Being overweight causes a great many negative impacts on the psychological conditions of any human being. Their dissatisfaction with their body image and improper physical state often lead to depression, anxiety and lowered self-esteem. Many obese individuals cannot focus on their daily tasks, job routines and activities. This is because their thinking process is highly affected by obesity-related problems.
Quite a few patients have reported that they are also concerned about their appearances in social gatherings and are generally dissatisfied with their body image. This dissatisfaction adds further problems to their distress when many obese individuals become the victims of binge eating disorder, which considerably increases their BMI. The overestimation of body size is another issue among obese populations that increases their body image concerns.
Psychological life improvements after gastric bypass surgery
As per the study of NCBI on “Psychological Aspects of Bariatric Surgery as a Treatment for Obesity”, psychological issues and body image dissatisfaction are the key motivators for seeking gastric bypass surgery by obese patients. Women especially are highly motivated for this surgery to get relief from such dissatisfaction.
Gastric bypass surgery has the potential to improve the body image of the patients and allow them to reach a body weight which is closer to their expectations, healthier for their well-being, and also adjacent to the ideal notion of fitness and slimness in society.
In fact, the NCBI study claimed that the surgery also brings many other improvements in terms of psychosocial status, social relationships and employment opportunities. Ultimately, the person encounters emotional stability, positive mental health and favourable psychological conditions as part of the life improvements after gastric bypass surgery.
2. Feeling fit and lighter
According to a study, approximately 58.8% weight loss is observed in obese patients after gastric bypass surgery. That means, patients experience a cut-down of half of their pre-surgery weight. Many other studies have even claimed that patients lose nearly 60% to 70% of their weight after the operation.
Such a quick change in physical appearance allows you to feel fit, lighter and smarter than before. This is one of the major life improvements after gastric bypass surgery.
3. Several health risks are minimized
Many of the obesity-causing risks and diseases like heart attacks, diabetes, depression, strokes, asthma and sleep apnea terribly afflict the health of the super-obese patients. Whilst, after carrying out this surgery, patients get relieved from many of these ailments which is one of the greatest life improvements after gastric bypass surgery for the patient’s future life.
A great many studies have displayed that health risks in patients with comorbidities are minimized and they don’t need extra medical therapies for treating their former illnesses.
4. Enhanced life expectancy
Many of the NHS surgeons have claimed that gastric bypass surgery is both safe and effective, engendering greater benefits for the obese individuals. The surgery enhances the life expectancy as the patients are prevented from many obesity-related diseases that may endanger their life in the future.
A consultant surgeon at University College Hospital, England, Marco Adamo described:
“Severe and complex obesity is a serious, lifelong condition associated with many major medical conditions”
Another consultant surgeon of NHS, Mr Richard Welbourn said:
“Bariatric surgery cost-effectively improves the health of obese patients.”
5. Better quality of life
Another life improvement after gastric bypass surgery is obtaining a better quality of life. Obese individuals are miserably affected by many problems both physically and mentally which harm the quality of their lives. However, after the surgery they experience wonderful benefits which improve their life quality and resolve many of their health issues.
In accordance with a study of NCBI on “Quality of Life After Bariatric Surgery”, the quality of life of patients was evaluated before the surgery in terms of previous and current disease conditions for hypertension, diabetes, sleep apnea, and cardiac infarction. The result showed that beside the considerable body mass reduction in all the patients, more than half of the patients were absolved from type 2 diabetes, hypertension and other comorbidities. The overall index was also measured in which average global quality of life index was increased after gastric bypass surgery. The better quality of life you'll be living is one of the most well known life improvements after gastric bypass surgery.
6. Lowered expenses in the supermarket
Interestingly, this life improvement after gastric bypass surgery can really bring respite to those patients who liked to spend profusely in supermarkets to satisfy their carvings for unhealthy goodies. As the surgery reduces the size of stomach and subsequently there is no space for such foods, the cravings automatically diminished, allowing you to include only necessary things in your grocery list and thus carry out lesser expenditures.
TaJuan M., of Memphis, Tennessee who had been treated with gastric bypass surgery said in her interview with WebMD:
"I love three meals a day, but my portions have dramatically changed. What I eat has changed. My taste buds have changed. I still have cravings. Oooh, I want that cheesecake. But now I know to eat things I should eat first -- and when I have to satisfy that craving, eat a bite for the taste because I'm full. The surgery helps you, you really are full."
7. Fewer doctor visits
A patient who couldn’t even have the potential to carry out daily tasks at job or perhaps he/she used mobility assistance devices in past now, after the operation feel much healthy and lighter that his/her good health results into fewer trips to the clinics or emergency rooms. As one of the many life improvements after gastric bypass surgery, you will not have to visit your doctor every now and then after your surgery, complaining about several obesity-related diseases like common headaches, depressions or heart problems because now they all are preventable.
8. Prevention from heart disease and high blood pressure
A study of NCBI on “Decreased Cardiovascular Risk after Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery in Chinese Diabetic Patients with Obesity” was conducted last year in which 20 Chinese obese patients were assessed. Their cardiovascular risk was measured before and after 18 months of gastric bypass surgery. The study demonstrated that the cardiovascular risk of coronary heart disease decreased from 13.05% to 3.81% in subjects after the surgery. This figure illustrates us that there is a substantial reduction in heart diseases after carrying out the surgery.
The study further calculated 10-year stroke risk among the patients and found out that it reduced from 19.66% to 14.22% after the operation.
9. Diabetes and high cholesterol risks reduced
An article was published in The Guardian this year by Aisha Walker who was a patient of type 2 diabetes because of obesity. She wrote in her essay:
“For over 20 years, type 2 diabetes had drained my health and wellbeing. Despite endless diets and exercise regimes to deal with obesity, the weight always crept back – followed by depression”
The woman finally opted for gastric bypass surgery in March 2017 and the results were overwhelming. She gladly reported that she has lost almost five stones, that is, 70 pounds after just 7 months of the surgery. But what’s more surprising is that her type 2 diabetes was completely reversed and she feels now healthier with diabetes and cholesterol levels under control. She said:
“When I look back, I wonder why I didn’t do it sooner. My decision wasn’t just about looking and feeling better: I chose to continue with life. I wanted to take back control of my health, and be free of diabetes – which, since my operation, has been in remission. I’m no longer depressed, and I’ve stopped taking medication. I feel like a dark cloud has lifted, and I’m glowing in the sun.”
10. Physically more active and energetic than before
Many of the former obese patients had complained that they couldn’t climb three flights of stairs without resting. Though, after the operation they feel physically more active and energetic and can easily climb up three steps of the stairs without taking long breaks. Their BMI has been dramatically reduced, which enabled them to manage with their bodily undertakings quite actively.
11. Improvements in diet and lifestyle
With a new hope for a healthy future, obese patients after gastric bypass surgery lay out a pleasant journey of further improving their diet and lifestyle ahead in their lives. They are now optimistic and like to abide by the code of positive dietary so they can maintain their fitness and enjoy the lifelong benefits granted by the surgery.
Anita Courcoulas, the chief of bariatric surgery at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has shared the opinions of gastric bypass surgical patients as she says:
"They learn what it feels like to feel better and have improved health. The surgery gives them a tool to reinforce the positive lifestyle changes.
12. Development of regular exercise routine
Building a regular routine for exercises is also an incredible life improvement after gastric bypass surgery. Patients feel so self-motivated and determined that doctors or gym experts do not need to compel them for exercising regularly, but they themselves develop a schedule to carry out physical exertions and vital activities so that their fitness and health is maintained for long.
A woman named Beverly P. resides in Pittsburgh had undergone gastric bypass surgery and lost almost 200 pounds of her weight. She shared her exercise routine as she says:
“Exercise was such a chore before weight loss surgery. But, now I purposefully do things on a daily basis I didn't do before. I walk instead of taking the shuttle to where I work”
13. Enjoying life and embracing new mind-sets
Last but not least, one of the most lasting life improvements after gastric bypass surgery are the joy you'll experience. Obese individuals who have carried out gastric bypass surgery encounter a healthy and gratifying life with new hopes, goals, mind-sets and aspirations.
A 27 year old woman from Tennessee who had her gastric bypass surgery a few years ago openly said in her interview with a media corporation:
"My self-esteem has increased tremendously. I'm treated differently. People are friendlier. I get more respect. Sad to say, but people stereotype you when you're overweight."
These words clearly explain that people get highly obsessed with their being overweight. It becomes a struggle for them to lead a contented life with new missions and dreams to conquer. However, through this life-saving treatment of gastric bypass, they can get on with their lives, embracing new happenings and welcoming better mind-sets to live a reassuring life with the many benefits and life improvements after gastric bypass surgery. Call or submit a contact form to us at Weight Loss Riga. We're happy to help you understand whether you qualify for bariatric surgery!
