Lap Band: the Weight Loss Genie
Have you overdone promising to yourself that you will go on a diet today? You tend to move it the next day, then next week until it never came at all and until you became so fat you have to bend over just to see your inner thighs. But you can’t bend over so you never saw it. The doctor said exercise can help you but he never trusted you to do it religiously because if you did you would not be here with him today. Now he has to do this fast because you have threats of diabetes, hypertension and a gastro esophageal reflux disease, how bad is that? Your doc’s quick snap: lap band!
A lap band is a laparoscopic adjustable gastric band that is placed in the upper portion around the stomach by means of a laparoscopic surgery. It makes the stomach smaller narrowing the outlet which limits the capability of the stomach to contain food thus giving a feeling of fullness to the person. This is an example of a bariatric surgery. Meaning it is a surgery that is performed for the reason of obesity and its complications.
People who are subjected to the lap band surgery are those with a body mass index of 40 and above. It is a state where you are100 pounds over the normal weight. It could be done for people with 35-40 if they have diseases like hypertension, diabetes, osteoarthritis and others. It is done if the exercise and diet regimen has no effect.
The lap band operation takes only minutes to perform and has an incision of ½ inch just to get the device through. The lap band is made of silicone, a hard silicone product that is not porous. It is biocompatible indicating that it can stay in your body without causing any infection or complications. This band is adjustable. The surgery is reversible.
How does it work?
Some bariatric surgeries involve stapling of the stomach or the recent gastric bypass which a part of your organ is removed. Of the surgeries related to obesity lap band is the easiest to perform. It could only take minutes to do this and can be done in an out patient unit. It is less invasive and leaves only a small scar compared to the open approach. The tremendously obese though is subjected to the open approach especially if they have undergone previous gastric surgery.
An incision of about ½ inch or less is made at the navel are a where carbon dioxide if flushed into the abdomen where the surgeon will work. A camera is inserted into the incision to see the activity of stomach. Smaller incisions are made around to fit in the tools that will install the band. The surgeon then makes a tunnel behind the stomach which will fasten the band; he wraps the band around the upper part and locks it.
The band that is wrapped around the stomach has little pouches from the inside. These little pouches are filled with a saline solution that the amount can be adjusted depending on the physician or the extent of obesity.
The band forms a small pouch in the upper part of the stomach. By the time food is ingested the small pouch is filled up first and slowly make its way to the bigger pouch in a slow manner. The pouch can contain about ½ cup of food where ordinarily it can hold up to 6 cups. After the ½ cup pouch is filled there is a feeling of fullness for the patient because the message from the brain tells that the entire stomach is full. You will feel hungry less then. There are 350,000 success stories for this operation.
Who can have the lap band?
People who are subjected to the lap band surgery are those with a body mass index of 40 and above. They are the medically considered obese. It is a state where you are100 pounds over the normal weight. It could be done for people with 35-40 if they have diseases like hypertension, diabetes, osteoarthritis and others which apparently is triggered by obesity. It is performed if the exercise and diet regimen has no effect.
A candidate must be 18 to 55 years old to qualify for this medical procedure. The person must be obese for five years. The patient must have a thorough understanding of the process and must be willing to comply with the necessary requirements on diet restrictions which will last a lifetime, for a successful operation.
Advantages of the lap band
It has lower mortality rate which is approximately 1 in every 2000 compared to the gastric bypass which is 1 in 250. No removal of any part or stapling of the stomach like other procedures. The band is adjustable and removable at any given time depending on your surgeon. It requires shorter hospital stay and quick recovery is attained. It can be adjusted without adjoined surgery. There is no mal-absorption because the intestines as the main candidates in absorbing food are not rerouted of cut.
It must be vital for a person who had the lap band to maintain weight loss and to stop eating when the feeling of fullness is attained. The post op plan must be carefully followed to avoid unnecessary complications. You had the bypass to attain the weight, the body, the self esteem and the self respect, right? So please abide. Monitor your weight loss every time so when you look at the scale you will be happy. Being concerned about it is best for progress. See to it that you lose 1-2 pounds per week as the minimum requirement.
These are the proof that present the significance of the lap band to people who are obese. You have the option to make everything normal again. Having a BMI of 40 is not the end of the world. Medicine has given you the choice of to get away from self hatred and ridicule. This is the lap band: the weight loss genie.