Diabetes And Weight Loss: What You Should Know
Every year you tell yourself that this is the year that you are going to lose weight. And every year you mean it. Somehow, however, you lose sight of that goal as the days and months go on and rather than lose that weight, you see the numbers on the scale climbing. On top of that, when you suffer from diabetes, not only is weight gain a cosmetic concern, but it can also be extremely detrimental to your health. It also makes weight loss that much slower as you can develop complications from diabetes that make exercising and dietary changes difficult. Luckily, there are various medical interventions that can help you to lose weight, improving your overall health and helping to better control your diabetes.
Gastric Bypass Surgery
Perhaps the most common weight loss surgery around, gastric bypass surgery is one medical intervention that you can use to assist you in your weight loss goals and that can help you get your diabetes under control as well. Gastric bypass surgery involves dividing your stomach into two sections that are closed off from one another.
The top section is the smaller portion and will be your "active stomach." The lower portion, sometimes called the remnant, is larger and will go unused (though it will still be connected to the intestines in case food does manage to get in there). Your small intestine will be rerouted so that it connects to the active stomach as well as the remnant.
Because the portion of the stomach you use is much smaller following gastric bypass surgery, you will not be able to eat as much or absorb as many calories from the food you eat. This will help you control portion size, which in turn can help you regulate your blood sugar. However, if you are not careful, your blood sugar levels can spike and dip frequently when you eat after gastric bypass surgery. Until you get an eating pattern established you will need to carefully monitor your blood glucose and insulin levels.
Duodenal Switch Surgery
Alternatively, there is another weight loss procedure known as the duodenal switch surgery that will also help you lose weight and manage your diabetes. Like the gastric bypass, the duodenal switch procedure reduces the size of the stomach and reroutes/reduces the small intestines as well.
The duodenal switch procedure is similar to that of the gastric bypass at first, except the larger unused portion of the stomach is removed. The remaining stomach pouch is attached to the small intestine (which is also surgically shortened). The portion of the small intestine that has been removed from carrying food from the stomach is reattached to the small intestine (looped in a way) to carry digestive juices to help further break down the food.
This is a complicated procedure that can be risky in some ways, as the procedure involves several intricate steps that must be performed precisely. However, when it comes to managing your diabetes, duodenal switch surgery is actually more successful than gastric bypass. Fasting blood sugars will be reduced drastically and in many cases type II diabetes can be completely eradicated through duodenal switch surgery.
When you are trying to lose weight and manage your diabetes (and the complications that go along with both), the task can seem impossible. However, these two medical interventions can help you to reach your weight loss goals and possibly rid you of your diabetes. So, consult with a weight loss center like Weight Loss Specialists of North Texas and see if weight loss surgery is right for you.
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