Due to unhealthy eating habits and a sedimentary lifestyle, obesity is a major problem affecting people all over the world. Although the best way to turn this around is to adopt a healthy lifestyle, for some this is easier said than done. Years of struggling with obesity can leave a person feeling very disappointed and depleted of self-esteem.
There are other ways that a person can effectively lose weight in a relatively short period of time and keep it off. This comprises of bariatric surgeries and treatments such as Balloon surgery, Gastric Banding and Gastric Bypass.
The aim of these treatments is to make the stomach smaller so the person can only eat very little at a time, and give the person a feeling of fullness.
Balloon Surgery is the procedure of inserting an inflated gastric balloon directly into the stomach. This is removed in six months. By this time the patient would have had enough time to change his/her eating habits.
Gastric Band Surgery is one of the most popular kinds of weight loss surgery. It is when a band is wrapped around the upper portion of the stomach. This reduces its size, and food takes longer to go through the band and into the stomach to be digested.
Gastric Bypass Surgery is a more extensive surgery. The surgery is a procedure where the patient’s stomach is reduced in size by stapling a small portion of the stomach and then reattaching to the middle portion of the intestine. This results in a person having a small pouch for a stomach. As food now bypasses most of the intestine, calorie and nutrition absorption is much less.
Although this is a very effective way to lose weight, it is not for everyone. Doctors recommend this surgery for those who:
- Have a BMI of between 35 and 40 and have serious health problems connected to being overweight, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol and severe sleep apnea
- Have been struggling with losing weight for a long period time, with diet and exercise
- Completely understand the risks involved and are still motivated to carry out the surgery
