Gastric Bypass Surgery The Right Choice example essay topic

More than 40,000 people a year are so desperate to lose weight they turn to the controversial, sometimes life-threatening surgery such as Gastric Bypass. I will be explaining what the surgery entitles, disadvantages vs. advantages. And most important, is Gastric bypass surgery the right choice when considering the risks. The most common form of "stomach stapling" is gastric bypass.

In this procedure, a small pouch is formed in the stomach and stapled shut. The small intestine is then cut and stapled onto the pouch, shrinking the stomach's ability to take in food. The technique involves removing a section of the stomach and rearranging the small bowel to divert bile and pancreatic secretions away from the food stream. Fats and starches flow through without being absorbed. In order to be a candidate for the surgery, patients must be considered morbidly obese or at least 100 pounds overweight. Before an individual gets the go-ahead, he or she meets with doctors and psychologists to rule out all other ways of help.

Surgery may sound like the best option for a morbidly overweight person, but a small figure comes at a high price. There are health risks and the side effects can be fatal. Three people will die during every 1,000 procedures, according to the A SBS. Let me tell you about more disadvantages. More than one-third of obese patients who have gastric surgery develop gallstones. Nearly one in three develop nutritional deficiencies.

Patients could also be at risk for anemia, osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease. However, these side effects can be avoided with the proper amount of vitamin and mineral supplements. Up to 20 percent of patients who undergo the operation will require follow-up surgeries to correct complications. Common problems include abdominal hernias, breakdown of the staple line and stretched stomach outlets. There's rapid regain of weight and all sorts of medical problems. From vitamin deficiencies to constant illness, stomach upsets, diarrhea, fatigue and horrible wound infections.

Many people don't want to admit they " ve had problems because they " re so happy to be thin; "People who have had the surgery the past couple of years are in a honeymoon state", states Guthrie, Catherine. The author of "Bariatric Surgery: A Radical Obesity Fix. They is so thrilled to be thin. They believe being thin at all costs is more important than their own lives. Even if the patients have problems although these are some complications, most patients undergo only one surgery and there's an 85 percent success rate.

Such advantages are. Gastric bypass surgery offers significant medical advantages in addition to lasting excess weight loss. Internal and national outcome studies show that morbidly obese patients who suffer from high blood pressure, adult onset diabetes, sleep apnea, arthritis, and other medical conditions experience an improvement or elimination of this condition following surgery. Some look at an advantage as being forced to eat only small amounts of food and not having an option to over eat because their stomach is the size of a small balled up fist.

Breathing Becomes easier and mobility problems to and from places becomes a thing of the past. The biggest advantage of having Gastric bypass surgery is feeling good about your-self and fitting in with the "normal" people. According to the New York Times and Biogenetics, weight loss surgery procedures increased 40% last year, with 80,000 occurring nationwide. And statistics from the American Society for Bariatric Surgery predict there will be over 103,000 surgeries performed in 2006. By comparison, in 1998 there were less than 26,000, and in 1993 the number was just shy of 17,000. Does this make such a surgery the right choice?

I really can't say at this time. Do advantages outweigh disadvantages? For every advantage of having gastric bypass surgery I researched, there is at least one reason and / or testimony why it isn't the right choice. The choice is the person looking into it and there families.

They have to find the myth from the facts given out by doctors and other professionals. Personally, I know 4 people who have had this procedure. Two of them feel like brand new people while the others regret doing it, and question their decision daily. I guess to conclude; the question of the "right" choice can't be said, until the person who decided to have / not have the surgery faces and lives with the decision of continuing to be morbidly obese or living with the possible negative effects of Gastric bypass surgery.

' Frequently Asked Questions about Gastric surgery' 2000. Georgetown Surgical Clinic. 15 April 2003 web The American Society for Bariatric Surgery "24 Apr. 2003 'General Questions about Bariatric Surgery' 2002 Biogenetics' 3 April 2003 Goodman, Elliot R. 'Surgery for Severe Obesity: Drastic Treatment for a 21st Century Epidemic. ' 2003. ABCNEWS. March 4, 2003 Guthrie, Catherine.

'Bariatric Surgery: A Radical Obesity Fix. ' 2004 infotrac 8 March 2004.