According to a recent study by Uppsala University, the vast majority of gastric bypass patients in Sweden are happy with their results losing nearly two-thirds of their body weight; however half resort to plastic surgery. Uppsala researchers David Edholm evaluated patients who had gastric bypass surgery 17 to 7 years ago. He discovered that most lost a considerable amount of weight, they also managed to keep it off and 80% of these patients were satisfied with the operation itself.
According to Edholm, this study is one of the few in the world to go so far back regarding following up with patients and their success as a result of their bariatric surgery procedures. He found it important to do so to evaluate the public health epidemic of obesity in Sweden and across the world.
In Sweden, a patient qualifies for gastric bypass surgery if their body mass index or BMI is over 40. A patient typically needs 4-6 weeks to recover fully before returning to work, according to 1177.se.
The study’s researchers did find that the procedure often did lead to a patient having plastic surgery to remove excess skin from the stomach. He found that 2 in 5 patients had to have follow-up plastic surgery. Edholm’s research was presented just days after the Public Health Institute warned the Swedish population that they were getting fatter faster than ever. The majority of obese or overweight individuals in the population were those nearing retirement age and middle-aged Swedes. In the 45-64 age bracket, obesity among women increased nearly 8% and 5% in men in just the last 10 years.
Many national health experts warn that there are myriad health issues that can arise due to obesity. They said that Sweden will soon have to foot an even larger health bill as the endless population piles on the pounds. Today nearly 26% of Swedes ages 16-29 were overweight or obese and 45% of those 30-40 years old.
Edholm notes that while the short and long-term benefits of patients losing weight are well documented, patients were bad at taking the proper vitamin supplements that were required after bariatric surgery. Nearly 24% of patients took their multivitamins each day, and 72% did make remember to take Vitamin B12.
He also found that patients who lived on a low-calorie diet for four weeks post-op were able to reduce the size of their liver and made recovering from surgery much easier. This also resulted in fewer co-morbidities or a reduced risk of these co-morbidities during the entire weight loss process.