The Importance of Weight Loss Surgery

Weight loss surgery can be a life-saving solution for some individuals, as the operation helps reduce excess fat, which is often detrimental to health. While this type of surgery isn't ideal for everyone, it's important when, for example, excess weight hinders proper breathing and seriously complicates a person's health.

Is Surgery the Best Solution for Weight Loss?

Benefits of Weight Loss Surgery

Weight loss surgeries, also known as bariatric surgery, not only eliminate excess fat but offer numerous health benefits, even though it's considered a last resort for severely obese individuals.

In fact, bariatric surgery interventions improve the body's overall well-being. To undergo this procedure, certain conditions must be met, such as:

• Having a BMI (Body Mass Index) greater than 35;
• Suffering from obesity-related health problems that can only be improved by weight loss;
• Having demonstrated the impossibility of losing weight through other means;
• Being ready for a radical lifestyle change;
• Understanding the risks and benefits of surgery;

Medical problems related to obesity generally improve after the operation and then disappear, including:

• Type 2 diabetes;
• Severe arthritis;
• Obstructive sleep apnea;

After bariatric surgery, about 95% of people report a significantly improved quality of life. Other studies suggest that patients live longer after weight reduction than patients who remain obese and do not undergo treatment.

Risks of Weight Loss Surgery

Weight loss surgery can carry certain risks. Only 10% of patients who undergo weight loss surgery experience complications afterward.

Usually, problems are mild in nature, such as:

• Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea;
• Wound infections;
• Abdominal hernia;

Other complications can be more serious but represent only 3% of cases, such as:

• Pulmonary embolism;
• Leaks between the new surgical connections;
• Ulcers;

The most significant risks concern patients over 60 years of age. Even after successful surgery, some minor problems may arise, such as:

• Gallstones;
• Vitamin deficiency, caused by reduced nutrient absorption;
• Skin laxity, requiring plastic surgery;

In all cases, after weight loss surgery, it's necessary to follow a low-calorie diet and exercise extensively, considered the most effective treatment to reduce and/or maintain a healthy weight and control all obesity-related diseases. After the operation, the patient eats much less, reaching satiety with 30 grams of rice or 50 grams of fish. After some time, they eat a little more, but quantities will still be very low. Of course, the patient must learn to eat quality foods with controlled calories.

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Weight Loss and Obstructive Sleep Apnea

What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

Obstructive sleep apnea is a very common disorder affecting the upper airways. Specifically, affected individuals experience an obstruction of the airways during sleep, leading to a complete or partial and prolonged cessation of breathing. Normally, this disorder results in a reduction in the amount of oxygen in the blood.

The most common complications of obstructive sleep apnea affect the cardiovascular system and, in severe cases, can also lead to an increased risk of death from heart disease.

How Does Bariatric Surgery Improve Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

Studies have shown that weight loss could be the way to reduce symptoms associated with obstructive sleep apnea.

Specifically, after weight loss surgery, it is necessary to follow a low-calorie diet and exercise extensively. This method is considered the most effective treatment for the symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea.

In fact, it's important to note that the vast majority of patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnea are obese. Indeed, numerous studies have revealed that weight is a very important factor in this disorder.

Thanks to a completely different lifestyle, for 26% of the patients who participated in the project, all the typical symptoms of sleep apnea disappeared, such as snoring, often perceived as bothersome by the patients' partners.

Weight loss not only improves breathing and reduces the symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea but also reduces high blood pressure, prevents joint problems, and improves the patient's vitality and overall psychophysical state.

Weight Loss Could Also Benefit the Pancreas

Guidelines from major scientific societies have now all drawn the same conclusions: bariatric surgery is an option (even long-term) to consider when all previous attempts at weight loss have failed. As for the effect on diabetes, a frequent condition in 26% of obese individuals, gastric bypass is the most effective practice. This procedure creates a new pathway for food bolus to "bypass" part of the stomach and the first part of the small intestine, reducing nutrient absorption. Minimally invasive surgery is an extraordinarily effective treatment for obese diabetic patients with a body mass index greater than thirty. Long-term obesity reduction has a positive effect on the activity of pancreatic beta cells and improves peripheral insulin response.