What You Should Know About Lap Band Surgery

It's no secret that weight loss is a major concern for a large percentage of the country. Today, many people find it harder and harder to find the balance to keep their weight at what is considered healthy. For many this has become a serious health and social issue that can affect your mental health as well as your physical health. Although diet, exercise, behavior therapy and anti-obesity drugs are traditionally a first line treatment, these treatments had limited short-term success and generally do not solve the problem alone.

While it is never easy to lose weight, for some, it becomes incredibly difficult and almost an impossible task.

With the advancements in the medical community developing Bariatric procedures such as The Lap-Band, what was considered an impossible task has now allowed hundreds of thousands of people to lose their excess weight and go on to live happy healthier lives.

Bariatric refers to the branch of medicine that deals with causes, prevention, and treatment of obesity. With the combination of Weight loss surgery and traditional methods, generally greater results in long term weight loss can be achieved with patient compliance in developing healthier lifestyles. In addition, the combination of treatments can be tailored to each patient's needs.

Today there are varieties of Bariatric weight loss procedures to choose from. Lap-Band surgery continues to be a leader in its effectiveness for controlling weight gain and promoting weight loss. The Lap-Band, unlike other Bariatric procedures is considered a less least invasive and safest of all the Bariatric procedures, and has gained in popularity for its excellent outcomes and its ability to work without the need to remove or alter parts of the body.

With Lap Band surgery, weight loss is achieved by reducing the size of the stomach by dividing (but not separating) the stomach into a smaller upper and larger lower section (much like an hourglass) by placing an adjustable, inflatable band between the two sections. Food reaches the smaller upper stomach pouch first and greatly reduces the amount of food to fill the volume of the small pouch and activates hormones that signal early fullness. The band also slows the rate at which food then passes to the lower larger section of the stomach where it continues the digestion process and promotes a sense of fullness for hours. With the Lap-Band Procedure there is no removal, resecting or re-routing of the stomach or small intestine. The body remains intact. Because nothing is removed the patient does not experience any malabsorption issues like other Bariatric procedures.

An additional advantage of this procedure is the band's ability to be adjusted non-surgically with a saline "fill" as weight loss continues, stops or as the needs of the patient changes (such as pregnancy) A "fill" as it is more commonly known as, is a simple outpatient process much like getting a shot, where saline fluid is added to adjust the band to the perfect level. Although many patients come back to their surgeon to perform these fills, this procedure Can be performed by any qualified fill provider in the patient’s area and does not require the patient to go back to their surgeon for this adjustment making it very convenient for the patient and the maintenance of the band. The Lap-Band is also designed to remain in the patient indefinitely, but can be removed at the patient's request, allowing the body to go back to its original condition as before banding. Read more about Bariatric surgery are you a candidate?

Long term studies show that the Lap-Band procedure has a significant long term loss of weight related issues such as recovery from Diabetes, cardiovascular risk factors and a reduction in mortality rates from 40% to 23%.