An Examination Of Life After Gastric Bypass Surgery
As obesity continues to rise in the West people are becoming more and more
conscious of the health risks from being significantly overweight and of the
increased risk of death resulting from obesity. But to what extent are these
risks lessened by undergoing gastric bypass surgery?
A recent study examined the histories of a substantial number of individuals
who had bariatric surgery in the 10 years from the start of 1995 to the end of
2004 and discovered that roughly one percent of patients died within a year of
their surgery while roughly 6 percent died inside 5 years. When the figures were
adjusted to take account of sex and age and matched against figures for the
population as a whole they were discovered to be reasonably high. So what does
this say about the ability of gastric bypass surgery to lessen the general risk
to our health?
To answer this question we must look beyond the headline figures and look at
just why these deaths happened and where the real variation lies between the
general population and obesity patients.
When you examine the detailed figures two particular things stand out.
The first is the number of patients whose deaths resulted from heart disease
which is the leading cause of death in the weight loss patients and is
substantially above that seen in the general population.
The second is the number of deaths which resulted from suicide and from drug
overdoses which, while not officially recorded as suicide, must nevertheless
raise the question of whether these overdoses were truly accidental. In the
general population you might expect to see roughly 2 deaths from suicide in a
group of the same size as the study group and yet this group of patients showed
no fewer than 30 suicides and drug overdoses.
When we examine these results and consider them alongside our general
knowledge about individuals undergoing gastric bypass surgery then we can
possibly understand this variation at least in part.
Although bariatric surgery is normally extremely successful it is often not
performed until individuals are suffering from other medical problems and, while
surgery can cure several of these problems and lessen the risks from others, a
lot of individuals still remain at some risk even following surgery. For
example, in a lot of cases people continue to be troubled by things like
diabetes and hypertension and it is possibly unsurprising that this section of
the population at large remains at higher risk from heart disease.
Also, while gastric bypass surgery may lead to a considerable loss in weight
a lot of people remain heavily overweight for a considerable time following
surgery and some people will stay that way for years to come.
As a final point, the changes in lifestyle which follow surgery are dramatic
and a lot of individuals experience depression during the weeks and months
following their surgery. Without doubt a great deal of attention is paid to the
physical affects of obesity surgery and the requirement for things like a
strictly controlled diet and an exercise program but, more often than not, very
little more than lip service is paid to the psychological affects of surgery.
Only time will show the extent to which this explanation holds water but
there can be little doubt that improved post-operative care for obesity patients
would go a long way to solving this anomaly.
More articles about gastric bypass surgery:
Gastric Bypass Surgery - A very effective gastric bypass resource, our gastric bypass dedicated website will help in finding just what you are looking for.
Laparoscopic Roux en Y Gastric Bypass Surgery - The Roux-en-Y gastric bypass has been around for many years now and remains a favorite with many weight loss patients. The Roux-en-Y has also kept up with modern demands and many surgeons now carry out the operation laparoscopically.
Vertical Gastrectomy Shows Promising Results For The Super Obese - The vertical gastrectomy is not a particularly well known form of bariatric surgery but might well become a favored option for the super obese.
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