You probably heard of gastric bypass surgery? procedure indicated for morbid obesity.

Let me first give you a little background about the procedure.  The operation involves stitching the stomach in the region near the esophagus, and reducing the size of the stomach by 90%.  The next step involves bypassing the rest of the stomach and connecting the small intestine directly to the region above the stitched region of the stomach, meaning to the area of the stomach left functional.

This procedure aims at achieving two things, food intake reduction (stitching the stomach), and malabsorption (reducing the amount of food absorbed).  By reducing the size of the stomach the patient tends to get full very easily, and weight loss here is achieved by reducing food intake. The small intestine being the main organ of absorption, bypassing a large segment, reduces nutrient absorption, and weight loss is achieved this way as well. ( Please see the image below).

This procedure, is only recommended for people with a BMI of over 40 (Body Mass Index of over 40), if you want to calculate your BMI, use the following link: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/. Weight loss is achieved very fast !!!!Any thoughts?

Dr. Zachary M. Lahlou