Those who undergo or contemplate bariatric surgery do so essentially as a second chance at life. I mean that the severely obese man or woman feels that he (or she) has lost out in life on multiple fronts. Here are a few examples:
Loss of body contour/beauty: you can’t forget how you were once before the fat started piling on.
Poor self image: you hate the thing you see in the mirror.
Poor quality of life: you can’t dance, surf, skip, run or walk without some kind of pain or discomfort. Going up one floor makes you breathless. You avoid holidays where you would need to walk, especially on hilly terrain.
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Alcohol has been in the center of research in the past few decades for a lot of reasons. While nobody with a sane mind questions the vices of smoking, sensible drinkers have hotly contested the alcohol debate. We know that alcohol is very high in calories, and it also can affect the way the body [...]
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Hair loss is one of the commonest laments in female patients after gastric bypass surgery (whether for weight loss or surgical cure of Type II Diabetes Mellitus), and is at once one of the least heralded topics in the subject. This is but natural: after all, surgeons are more bothered by complications that are life-threatening [...]
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“When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail!” We have all heard of this saying, and all of us agree. A skilled laparoscopic surgeon plots to take out huge tumors and cysts through the keyhole method, while the dinosaur surgeon tends to think of employing his hands to remove organs (like the appendix) [...]
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In Part One, we outlined the nature of the beast. In Part Two, we dealt with ways of cooking it. Now, in this part, we will clean up the remains. Sorry to our Gujju (and other vegan) friends for this analogy! If you have had bariatric surgery and are now having reflux, what now? (Are [...]
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In Part One, we outlined the nature of gastroesophageal reflux and how it occurs, as well as how we detect it clinically. So let us now assume that you are awaiting bariatric surgery and have reflux symptoms. So how does your reflux have an implication on your surgery? Will bariatric surgery (after all, we are [...]
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If you have acid reflux, chances are you are also obese or, at least, overweight. Many of our patients who are candidates for bariatric surgery have symptoms of acid reflux– heartburn, water brash (a sudden flooding of the mouth with saliva because of reflux of gastric contents into the food pipe), eructations, etc. While a [...]
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Some of the commonest things I get asked by patients after bariatric surgery is, “So what can I eat now? When can I eat sweets? When can I drink Coke?” Or words to that effect. Each time, I sigh. It means another ten minute lecture is due on my part. I have to teach an [...]
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So you have had a gastric bypass and are now on the way to normal life. You have a party you need to go to. Fine. Till you realise that you can’t eat most things there, and people are staring at you — someone who is saying ‘No’ to every dish being offered. It’s not [...]
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The sleeve gastrectomy operation converts the stomach into a long tube with a capacity of around 120 ml (or whereabouts). Obviously, you cannot exceed the newly reduced capacity, and your meals are going to be small, though much bigger than after a gastric bypass. To make matters better (and more interesting) you do not feel [...]
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