Severe obesity is one of the most critical stages of being overweight. You may often find yourself facing issues because of your weight and essentially feeling as if you’re trapped in a cycle of struggle with your weight. In addition, you most likely have attempted numerous diets – only in the end, to see your weight continue to increase. When combined with a comprehensive treatment plan, bariatric surgery acts as an effective tool to provide you weight-loss with a long term guarantee and helping you increase your quality of health. Bariatric surgery has been known to help improve many conditions related to obesity, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and more.

Significant weight loss through bariatric surgery may also pave the way for many other exciting opportunities for you, your family, and most importantly – your health. So, let us make you understand some of the procedures involved in bariatric surgery that may help to choose the best for you in accordance to your body.

Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band

In this type of surgery, the surgeon places a ring with an inner inflatable band around the top of your stomach to create a small pouch. This makes you feel full after eating a small amount of food. The band has a circular balloon inside that is filled with salt solution. The surgeon can adjust the size of the opening from the pouch to the rest of your stomach by injecting or removing the solution through a small device called a port placed under your skin.

Gastric Sleeve

In gastric sleeve surgery, also called vertical sleeve gastrectomy, a surgeon removes most of your stomach, leaving only a banana-shaped section that is closed with staples. Like gastric band surgery, this surgery reduces the amount of food that can fit in your stomach, making you feel full sooner. Taking out part of your stomach may also affect gut hormones or other factors such as gut bacteria that may affect appetite and metabolism. This type of surgery cannot be reversed because some of the stomach is permanently removed.

Gastric Bypass

There are two parts in gastric bypass surgery. Firstly, the surgeon staples your stomach, creating a small pouch in the upper section. The staples make your stomach much smaller, so you eat less and feel full sooner.

Next, the surgeon cuts your small intestine and attaches the lower part of it directly to the small stomach pouch. The surgeon connects the bypassed section farther down to the lower part of the small intestine. This bypassed section is still attached to the main part of your stomach, so digestive juices can move from your stomach and the first part of your small intestine into the lower part of your small intestine. The bypass changes gut hormones, gut bacteria, and other factors that may affect appetite and metabolism.

Duodenal Switch

This procedure involves two separate surgeries. The first is similar to gastric sleeve surgery. The second surgery lets food to bypass most of your small intestine. The surgeon also reattaches the bypassed section to the last part of the small intestine, allowing digestive juices to mix with food. This type of surgery allows you to lose more weight than the other three.

In addition to improvements in health and longevity, surgical weight-loss improves overall quality of life. Measures of quality of life that are positively affected by bariatric surgery include physical functions such as mobility, self-esteem, work, social interactions, and sexual function. Singlehood is significantly reduced, as is unemployment and disability. Furthermore, depression and anxiety are significantly reduced following bariatric surgery.