About Gastric Bypass

Gastric Bypass surgery is perhaps the oldest form of surgical weight-loss treatment, first developed in the 1960s when doctors began to observe the weight-loss benefits to patients undergoing partial stomach removal for the treatment of ulcers. Initially, gastric bypass was a radical surgery in which the patient's entire abdomen was opened up and the stomach and digestive tract completely rearranged.

In the past several decades, gastric bypass has evolved into its current form, a far less invasive procedure performed lapaorscopically, so there are fewer complications than traditional open bypass surgery.

The majority of gastric bypass procedures today take the form of 'Roux-en-Y' gastric bypass (RYGBP), in which a limb of intestine is connected to a small stomach pouch, bypassing the largest part of the stomach and initial portion of the small intestines. RNY gastric bypass has for many years been the most common form of Bariatric procedure performed in the U.S., where more than 150,000 gastric bypass operations are conducted annually.

A number of clinical studies in peer reviewed journals have shown patients experience durable weight loss and an improvement in weight-related medical illnesses with the RNY gastric bypass treatment. Typically, half of a gastric bypass patients' weight loss usually occurs in the first six months after surgery, with weight loss peaking at 18-24 months.

Data indicate that gastric bypass is effective as improving and even curing a number of obesity-related co-morbidities, including adult onset diabetes (also called insulin resistant diabetes), hypertension, high cholesterol, arthritis, venous stasis disease, bladder incontinence, liver disease, certain types of headaches, heartburn, sleep apnea and many other disorders.

Furthermore, gastric bypass results in more rapid, greater and sustained weight loss for many patients previously chronically obese, resulting in anecdotally significant reports of marked improvements in quality of life