To learn if bariatric surgery is right for you, call the Surgical Weight Loss Office. We can provide you with basic information about bariatric surgery and help determine if you are a candidate for surgery. We can also mail you an information package on our program with the forms you will need to complete to get started on your journey to improved health and well-being. You can also get re-registered to attend a Surgical Weight Loss Seminar.
Learn if bariatric surgery is right for you.
Simply put, obesity is a complex disease characterized by excessive body fat. The physiologic, biochemical, and genetic evidence is overwhelming that clinically severe obesity is not a simple disorder of will power, but a complex disease. While the biological basis is not fully understood, contributing causes include heredity, environmental, cultural, socioeconomic, and psychological factors. Women are eight times more susceptible to clinically severe obesity than men.
Surgical operations for the control of clinically severe obesity are based on one or both of two principles. The first is restriction, whereby the amount of calories or food ingested is controlled by limiting space available. The second principle is malabsorption, whereby the absorption of food is controlled or reduced.
Gastric Bypass Roux en-Y is recognized by the NIH Consensus Report for the effective treatment of clinically severe obesity. This is the procedure favored by The St. Joseph Surgical Weight Loss Program due to the low complication rate and long-term proven results in achieving weight loss. This procedure combines a gastric restrictive operation with malabsorption of nutrients [slow gastric emptying] to [that] provide a lifelong tool for the patient [in] dealing with clinically severe obesity. It has the highest long-term success with low rates of mortality, complications, and failures.
St. Joseph agrees with the American Society of Bariatric Surgeons that the Gastric Bypass Roux en-Y is [currently] the "gold standard" in the surgical treatment of clinically severe obesity. This procedure carries a mortality rate of less than one percent, a [n operative morbidity (]complication rate of 5 to 10 percent, and an effective loss of 50 to 75 percent of excess weight. In most cases, this is enough weight loss to reduce the life threatening dangers which come with co-morbid conditions.
How the Gastric Bypass Roux En-Y Works
When the small functioning upper stomach pouch is full (at first this will occur with only a nibble or two), patients experience a sense of fullness. In this way, and because the appetite will also be reduced, the intake of food is dramatically limited. In addition, part of the intestine is by-passed so that there is less absorption of the reduced food intake. This is what enables weight loss. [What food is eaten is digested and absorbed quite well.]
On an average, patients will lose as much as 100 pounds, sometimes more, or about two thirds of their excess weight in one year. Some people lose a little more, some a little less. Weight loss will continue during the second year at a less rapid rate.
About 15 percent of patients will not lose as much weight as they would like. This occurs because it is possible to "outsmart" or "overeat" bypass operations. It is for this reason that St. Joseph requires patients to attend the 1 pre-operative educational class. By knowing the requirements and pitfalls that are a consequence of the surgery, patients are more successful.
For you to be a candidate for surgery, all of the following must be met:
Learn if bariatric surgery is right for you.
Simply put, obesity is a complex disease characterized by excessive body fat. The physiologic, biochemical, and genetic evidence is overwhelming that clinically severe obesity is not a simple disorder of will power, but a complex disease. While the biological basis is not fully understood, contributing causes include heredity, environmental, cultural, socioeconomic, and psychological factors. Women are eight times more susceptible to clinically severe obesity than men.
Surgical operations for the control of clinically severe obesity are based on one or both of two principles. The first is restriction, whereby the amount of calories or food ingested is controlled by limiting space available. The second principle is malabsorption, whereby the absorption of food is controlled or reduced.
Gastric Bypass Roux en-Y is recognized by the NIH Consensus Report for the effective treatment of clinically severe obesity. This is the procedure favored by The St. Joseph Surgical Weight Loss Program due to the low complication rate and long-term proven results in achieving weight loss. This procedure combines a gastric restrictive operation with malabsorption of nutrients [slow gastric emptying] to [that] provide a lifelong tool for the patient [in] dealing with clinically severe obesity. It has the highest long-term success with low rates of mortality, complications, and failures.
St. Joseph agrees with the American Society of Bariatric Surgeons that the Gastric Bypass Roux en-Y is [currently] the "gold standard" in the surgical treatment of clinically severe obesity. This procedure carries a mortality rate of less than one percent, a [n operative morbidity (]complication rate of 5 to 10 percent, and an effective loss of 50 to 75 percent of excess weight. In most cases, this is enough weight loss to reduce the life threatening dangers which come with co-morbid conditions.
How the Gastric Bypass Roux En-Y Works
When the small functioning upper stomach pouch is full (at first this will occur with only a nibble or two), patients experience a sense of fullness. In this way, and because the appetite will also be reduced, the intake of food is dramatically limited. In addition, part of the intestine is by-passed so that there is less absorption of the reduced food intake. This is what enables weight loss. [What food is eaten is digested and absorbed quite well.]
On an average, patients will lose as much as 100 pounds, sometimes more, or about two thirds of their excess weight in one year. Some people lose a little more, some a little less. Weight loss will continue during the second year at a less rapid rate.
About 15 percent of patients will not lose as much weight as they would like. This occurs because it is possible to "outsmart" or "overeat" bypass operations. It is for this reason that St. Joseph requires patients to attend the 1 pre-operative educational class. By knowing the requirements and pitfalls that are a consequence of the surgery, patients are more successful.
For you to be a candidate for surgery, all of the following must be met:
- Be at least 100 pounds overweight or have a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more. To determine your body mass index, go to www.st-joseph.org/bariatricbmi. With high-risk co-morbid conditions, a BMI of 35 may qualify.
- Because we consider surgery a last resort, we believe you must have tried non-surgical treatments such as dietary programs, behavioral modification, and exercise.
- There must be no medical or hormonal reason for the clinically severe obesity. These conditions are rare, but require treatment of the underlying medical problem.
- You must be ambulatory, that is, able to walk, to avoid post-surgical complications.
- You must be fully informed about the surgery and what can be expected both as to weight loss and possible complications.
- You must demonstrate a willingness to accept the risks of surgery and to make dramatic lifelong changes in his/her lifestyle, dietary habits, exercise, and to commit to medical follow-up.