Type 2 Diabetes - How Beneficial Is Stomach Bypass Surgery?

Surgical weight loss options have become popular especially with obese Type 2 diabetics. Weight loss surgery reduces the capacity of the stomach to hold food. Most people lose a lot of weight following this type of surgery which usually causes sugar and blood pressure readings to drop due to the weight loss.

Type 2 Diabetes - How Beneficial Is Stomach Bypass Surgery?

There is good news for obese patients contemplating surgery, according to the Annals of Surgery in July 2016. According to a study performed at Uppsala University and several other research institutions in Sweden, stomach, or gastric, bypass surgery helps many people to control their weight for at least five years after the procedure. The bypass surgery used is known as the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

The study included 9774 participants with an average body mass index (BMI) of 42.8 (morbidly obese) at the beginning of the survey. Five years after the participants had their stomach bypass, they showed the following changes...

·         the average BMI was 31.5

·         the average weight went down by 27.7 percent

·         the percentage of participants with Type 2 diabetes went from 15.5 to 5.9

·         the proportion of participants with high blood pressure went from 29.7 percent to 19.5 percent

·         the number of participants with abnormal blood fats lowered from 14.0 to 6.8 percent

·         the number of people with sleep apnea (periods of not breathing) went down from 9.6 to 2.6

·         fasting blood sugar levels decreased.

Those people with the high amounts of weight loss showed the most improvement, while those with the highest BMI levels showed the least. Some earlier studies have shown a lowered risk of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes after the procedure. Other studies showed within ten years many people who underwent weight loss surgery gained back 20 to 25 percent of the weight they lost following the surgery.

Although the benefits of surgery are evident, complications can include the stomach stretching to allow in more food. Infection, blood loss, and a bad reaction to anesthetic are rare but possible. Blood clots can form in the legs and sometimes travel to the lungs.

Some dangers unique to Roux-en-Y stomach bypass include...

·         gallstones if the gallbladder is not removed

·         internal infection from leakage of stomach contents

·         kidney stones if dehydration occurs

·         weak bones or anemia from poor absorption of vitamins and calcium

·         a hernia, or a tear in the internal lining of the abdomen, from either incisions or a twist in the intestines.

Preventing and controlling Type 2 diabetes can be difficult, but with the right lifestyle and treatment, you can do it. While drugs and surgery can help some people, for most, a healthy lifestyle consisting of...

·         a healthy diet,

·         regular exercise and

·         perhaps medications

is the preferred route to good control of your blood sugar levels and body weight.

Although managing your disease can be very challenging, Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. You can make simple changes to your daily routine and lower both your weight and your blood sugar levels. Hang in there, the longer you do it, the easier it gets.

By Beverleigh H Piepers 

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

12:22