So your Doctor recommended you to look into a bariatric procedure, or perhaps a loved one made the decision and you’re interested in finding out how and why it’s helping them reach their healthy weight goals.
While bariatric procedures aim to aid and manage weight, the scope of their utility includes but is not limited to weight loss, and here’s why:
Most bariatric procedures are based on two main mechanisms, restrictive, defined by weight loss derived from a diminished capacity to hold food in the stomach, and malabsorption, which is weight loss derived from diminished nutrient absorption at an intestinal level. While the main change observed after a bariatric procedure is the weight, there are other mechanisms at work that help the body improve its response to pre existing conditions.
Quality of Life
Obesity as a disease is a silent killer, not only for the obvious hardships it entails (such as limited mobility, decreased overall energy, bodily pain, fatigue, psychological burden, etc) but also for the major impact it has on the body’s metabolism and the way it processes the daily exchanges it goes through.
Obesity is the comorbidity most often present when diagnosing a long term chronic and degenerative disease, specifically high blood pressure, diabetes and heart related events, raising the risk of developing one of these by almost 9 times if your BMI is >35 kg/m2 (Texas Heart Institute, 2011).
The weight loss related to bariatric procedures not only helps with mobility, emotional and psychological stability and pain relief, it also significantly improves the adequate management and control of pre existing diseases as well as lower the risk of developing them in the first place, improving not only quality of life, but longevity as well (UCLA Health, 2022).
Diabetes Mellitus
As stated before, obesity is a MAJOR risk factor in developing Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), and it’s estimated that up to 90% of patients diagnosed with T2D are overweight or obese.
Diabetes in turn, is the leading cause for Kidney Disease and failure, lower limb amputation and new onset blindness in adults, as well as sharing a significant association with heart disease, stroke, nervous system disease and pregnancy complications.
Bariatric surgery can significantly improve glycaemic control leading to risk lowering and improvement in up to 86% of the cases, as well as complete resolution in some cases, rendering it an effective, safe and cost-effective therapy for obese patients with T2D (International Diabetes Federation, 2011).
High Blood Pressure and High Cholesterol
Up to 26% of patients diagnosed with high blood pressure or high cholesterol are estimated to be overweight or obese according to the Framingham Heart Study.
Bariatric surgery has been noted to result in the normalization or at least better control of high blood pressure in 35-50% of all cases reported, as well as reduced the need for medications in a further 20-30% of the cases (UCLA Health, 2022).
Meta-analysis also shows that bariatric surgery leads to close to 50% reduction of heart attack and stroke risk.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Obesity is the number one risk factor for both male and female sexes to develop obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), affecting up to 63% of patients previously diagnosed with obesity. Also notable is the fact that the main pillars for OSA therapy and management are continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and WEIGHT LOSS.
Meta-analysis showed that the resolution or improvement of OSA in obese patients that underwent bariatric surgery in 2013 was 79% for bypass surgery patients and 86% for gastric sleeve patients.
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