Weight loss surgery has become exceedingly popular in the past couple of decades. As the population continues to weigh in heavier and heavier each year, obesity is becoming a major health concern. From children to senior citizens, people across all age and gender categories are growing in size. Weight loss is quickly becoming more than just something that folks wish for – it’s becoming a cultural necessity. That’s why weight loss surgery has continued to grow in terms of its popularity.
Unfortunately, there are some possible side effects and risks involved with weight loss surgery. Here are some of the potential problems you can face after you have had weight loss surgery:
- Surgical complications. Any time you have abdominal surgery, there’s a risk of complications. When it comes to weight loss surgery, you can be looking at things such as infections, hernias, and situations where the staple line breaks or the stomach outlets stretch, both effectively making the surgery useless.
- Gallstones. It’s estimated that about a third of obese people who get gastric bypass surgery will, at some point, develop gallstones. In essence, gallstones are clumps of cholesterol that appear in the gallbladder. Rapid weight loss, regardless of the cause, increases the risk for gallstones. Your doctor may be able to reduce this risk with a bile supplement after your weight loss surgery.
- Vomiting. It’s common for individuals who have had a restrictive weight loss surgery to find that, if they don’t chew their food particles well, they experience vomiting.
- Nutritional problems. It’s also common for people who undergo weight loss surgery to wind up with certain nutritional deficiencies. Some of the most common include anemia, osteoporosis and bone diseases. You may be able to mitigate the risks of these problems by taking nutritional supplements.
- Dumping. A weight loss surgery that affects how food is absorbed can create a situation in which contents move too fast through your digestive system, leading to things like nausea, weakness, sweating, faintness and, occasionally, diarrhea after eating.
If you’re considering weight loss surgery, make sure you talk with your doctor about the potential risks involved in the procedure, and that you’re willing to take those risks.
