School of Weight Loss

Many people struggle with their weight and eventually turn to gastric bypass as a solution. Usually this is someone who has a series of life threatening co-morbidities like sleep apnea, high blood pressure, heart disease or asthma that have happened because of their obesity.

Researchers at John Hopkins University are testing out a way to suppress the hunger hormone that may be helpful in dealing with some obesity issues. According to their study, they have found that by suppressing the hunger hormone ghrelin they can effectively create a suppression of appetite in the individual.

This research has only been done in pigs for now, but if they can translate it to humans they think it could be a less invasive alternative to gastric bypass.  This new process called gastric artery chemical embolization or GACE actually chemically vaporizes a blood vessel that goes to the top of the stomach. By doing this it cannot create the hormone and the appetite suppresses. Since this is part of what gastric bypass does they are hopeful that this can be done in humans.

The research was conducted over a four week period with 10 healthy pigs. They have a similar anatomy to humans so they were chosen as the best alternative.

This does not seem to be a healthy alternative for gastric bypass patients when we look closer. Obesity is complicated and it is difficult for many people. Gastric bypass is a last resort alternative after an individual has tried many different forms of weight loss.

Being overweight in this case does not necessarily have to do with appetite. Instead, it is an imbalance in their body that the gastric bypass is used to change. There is also the psychological factor of weight loss — the mind tells the body when it is hungry, in a healthy individual; but does not necessarily tell an obese person when they are hungry or when they are full.

Generally, gastric bypass to help an individual change their metabolism to one where weight loss, is now possible. The John Hopkins research seems to imply that the individual who has an eating problem that can be helped by suppression appetite. If that were the only issue patients would have had some other form of weight loss work.

Although gastric bypass may suppress appetite at some point it is the not main focus for this surgery. It seems that the researchers at John Hopkins should study gastric bypass surgery more directly so they understand the ramifications of what they are researching. It did not seem that they were very knowledgeable about bypass surgery since they isolated it to only appetite suppress.

In some ways it seems like they are creating another hurdle for an obese person to have to jump over, and not getting specifically to the real problem.

In order for an individual to have healthy weight loss after bypass surgery, they have to retrain their brain in terms of the amount of food they eat and how often they eat. This is something that many people do not know going into the surgery.

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Most Americans know that obesity is something that plagues the United States. There is so much talk about it and so many news articles that you cannot help but see that this is a problem. Statistics show that at least 10-15% of overweight people are considered morbidly obese. When obesity continues, it creates other health problems like high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.

For many Americans the idea of losing weight has failed. They have attempted several types of diet programs, they work out regularly, and they have changed their eating habits to accept more nutritious foods. For some reason, none of these things work to lose weight so they follow the final alternative which is Bariatric Surgery.

Although this has become a multi-billion industry for the surgeons who do the surgery, the individuals who elect the surgery still have to deal with learning how to lose weight after the surgery. Weight loss does not automatically happen afterwards, and they still have to watch what they eat.

The challenge for most is that after the surgery there are several psychological things that happen that no one really prepares them for, because the process is different for each person. If you are considering bariatric surgery, here are some things to consider before you do:

Ruen Y Gastric Bypass
Often people how have gastric bypass have challenges because this is a surgery that actually creates a pouch, so that you can only eat certain amounts of food. This cannot be reversed easily and it is something that most people have to live with for the rest of their lives. This can often be difficult when it enters into everyday life.

What Happens After Surgery
After surgery there are times when the individual may find they are grieving the loss of their old life. They can no longer eat as much as they used to and they cannot eat certain foods. The attitude must change in order to have a full life in this new lifestyle.

With Gastric Bypass they will have to limit the intake of food but it doesn’t mean they cannot eat some of the foods they once enjoyed.  Sometimes they will fell depressed when they go to a family gathering when they cannot eat like they once did. However, in the long run the surgery helps develop better eating habits.

After surgery it is also important to add exercise to increase weight loss. With the bypass surgery weight loss is very fast and it is very noticeable. Exercise will help stop flabby and loose skin as well as creating an opportunity to become fit. A good way to start is with an exercise ball and a DVD at home. Once exercise becomes routine walking or bicycling can also be added to create an overall fitness plan.

The bottom line is that when considering this surgery you also have to consider the fact that it is permanent and that you will have to change your lifestyle and your attitude in order to accommodate this new feature.

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