Hyderabad: Gastric by-pass surgery reduces the capacity of the a 1.6-litre stomach to 80 ml.
When this happens the food’s journey is cut down by two-thirds into the intestine. For a normal person, food takes two hours to reach the intestine and till then the sugar levels are very high. But for a person who has undergone this surgery, the food reaches within 30 minutes into the jejunum (part of small intestine), which does not allow the sugars to rise.
The digestion neutralises sugars and the burden of the disease is reduced.
Senior bariatric surgeon Dr Venugopal Pareek said, “People who undergo this surgery can’t drink colas, aerated drinks, alcohol and high-calorie foods as they will feel very heavy. If they overeat there will be cramping pains, giddiness, sweating and the blood pressure will go down. The basic nature of the surgery does not allow them to eat much as the extra food will have no space in the stomach.”
In Hyderabad, every month over 30 bariatric surgeries are performed. Gastric bypass is for diabetes patients. The number has increased as many people who have failed to lose weight despite exercise, diet and other options find the surgery a better way to loose weight.
The cost of the procedure varies from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 8 lakh. But it is important to ensure that it is performed in a super-speciality hospital so that complications can be attended to.
