Dr Oz: Gastric Bypass Surgery Pros & Cons

Dr Oz: The Gastric Surgery You Should Be Getting

Dr Oz’s show “The Gastric Surgery You Should Be Getting” said that Gastric Bypass Surgery may be the most underperformed surgery you should be getting. Studies indicate that gastric bypass surgery can reduce and even reverse Type 2 diabetes and may be the solution to reduce your risk of heart disease and other common heath issues. This may just be the procedure that saves your life!

But how do you know if it’s right for you?

Only 1 percent of eligible patients actually get the procedure done. Weight loss procedures were introduced in the 50s, but because of complications, medical professionals opted not to continuing performing them.

Gastric Bypass was introduced in the 70s, which enabled patients to eat less food and absorb fewer calories. This procedure has always been considered for the morbidly obese, however, new research shows that 80 percent of patients saw an improvement in their Type 2 diabetes as well.

Dr. Denise Bruner, MD, Bariatric Physician, stated that 2 days after getting the gastric bypass procedure done, patients were out of the hospital with no complications. Gastric bypass helps people lose weight because when done, a particular hormone that stimulates appetite is removed. This is why it works so quickly.

How Gastric Bypass Surgery Works

Dr Oz stated that when doctors performed the procedure, they make a little cut in the stomach, which made the new stomach the size of a thumb and only big enough to hold a few grapes. This makes you full quicker. The bottom part of the stomach is full of gastric fluids and doctors dump out that fluid. They then cut through the intestine and attach it to the smaller stomach, bypassing the larger stomach. After the procedure, when you eat, the food goes down the esophagus, into the smaller stomach and then down the intestine.

Doctors hook up (re-routing) the other part of the intestine to the larger stomach and digestion begins to occur. This procedure eliminates the turn on mechanism for diabetes.

Dr. James Rosser, MD acutally had the surgery done. At his heaviest, he weighed 450 lbs, had high blood pressure, sleep apnea and early signs of arthritis. Today, at 6’4”, he weighs 290 lbs. Dr. Rosser told Doctor Oz that before the surgery, he felt hungrier than most all the time. Even after eating a full meal, he felt hungry. After the procedure, he can now eat normally and has an alarm to tell him he’s full. Dr. Rosser felt as though gastric bypass placed him in a position to be like everyone else.

Dr Oz was careful to mention that this procedure does NOT cure the emotional issues of eating.

Dr Oz: Gastric Bypass Candidate Qualifications

-Have you made earnest efforts to lose weight?

-Do you have a BMI (Body Mass Index) above 40?

-Do you have a BMI of 35 or more with heart disease, sleep apnea or diabetes?

Dr Oz noted that a woman 5’4” and 200 lbs, which is a typical size, (really?) would make you a candidate as long as you had obesity related health issues.

Dr. Rosser stated that while there is still a misconception regarding the safety of gastric bypass, he wanted to reassure that it was safe, however, he does have 2 concerns that include;

1. leaking from the new connections- The risk is high within 24 hours after the surgery.
2. you need to make a life-long commitment to taking your vitamins. (This is vitally important with gastric bypass).

According to Dr. Brunner, when they went to medical school, they weren’t trained in nutrition because it wasn’t included in the medical courses back then, so they are only able to give general nutritional advice to patients. (You know, the ol’ eat less and exercise more spiel!)

Dr Oz: Gastric Bypass Story

Dr Oz allowed viewers to see one patient’s bypass surgery real time. Joelle had the surgery 1 week ago. She stated that she wanted the surgery because she needed the most direct way to affect her health. Ten years ago, she had high blood pressure and 4 years ago she was diagnosed with sleep apnea. She lost and gained weight over the years, but could not seem to keep off a significant amount of weight for a long period of time. She told herself that if she ever got diabetes, she would consider gastric bypass. On December 29th, 2010, Joelle was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

Dr Oz showed the actual operation, which was done laparoscopically. Doctors cut the intestinal track and cut the stomach, making it the size of a thumb. They bypassed the big stomach and had the smaller patch connected to the intestine. They stitched her up and a few days later, they sent Joelle home with no diabetes medication. Doctors say they are looking for her to lose a total of 95 lbs.