BATON ROUGE, LA – There are a few different types of them from gastric bypass to a vertical sleeve.
“The two that we often hear would be the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy and the Roux en Y Gastric Bypass. Both of those are often minimally invasive through small incisions. It usually requires one to stay in the hospital overnight, and the patients usually go home the next day,” said Dr. Thomas Cook.
In this week’s Women’s Wellness, I’m catching up with General Surgeon Dr. Thomas Cook the Baton Rouge Clinic, and we are talking about weight loss surgery.
“So, about three quarters of the surgeries performed in the U.S. are done on women. If you look at the obesity demographics, it’s about a 50/50 split between men and women. We just think that women seem to seek it out more than men do,” said Dr. Thomas.
Now, who qualifies to get this kind of surgery?
“So, whenever we start evaluating someone for weight loss surgery, we look at their Body Mass Index or BMI, and generally patients who are 40 or above, or 35 and above, with that BMI or things like diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea or things like that, are patients we consider for bariatric surgery,” explained Dr. Thomas.
The surgeries range, depending on which procedure you get. For example, a gastric band is where they put a device at the top of your stomach to help slow your food consumption which reducing the food you consume.
We have all heard diet and exercise are keys to lose weight, but Dr. Thomas said for some people, that’s not enough.
“We do know that some patients and for some people, for them, those things aren’t really enough, and that eventually, even with a good diet and exercise regime, they will gain weight back and those plans eventually fail for them,” said Dr. Thomas.
Dr. Thomas said the surgery isn’t a temporary solution, but a long term one, that takes commitment and dedication.
“We ask them to be on a strict diet and a continuous exercise program post-operatively, and that’s one of the main things we tell our patients that it’s a great tool, but it’s not a quick fix. It does require long term commitments and for them to change what they’re doing to continue that success,” concluded Dr. Thomas.
Dr. Thomas also added if you’re interested in weight loss surgery, do your research and ask your doctor.
If you want to learn more, just head to the link below:
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-topics/weight-control/bariatric-surgery/Pages/overview.aspx