Bariatric Surgery in Young Adults: Risks, Benefits, and Considerations
Lifestyle-related health problems are becoming more and more prominent in today’s fast-paced society, particularly among younger people. Lack of physical activity, poor diet, and stress are creating a significant increase in obesity across the world. Once, obesity was famous among older people, but now, younger people are the number one because of their sedentary lifestyle. Moreover, it leads to prompt serious health concerns at an early onset, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, joint problems, and even heart disease.
Additionally, many young people find it difficult to lose weight through established methods of diet control and exercise, and they even use medicines, but they either fail or are not sustainable over time. Therefore, more and more young people are seeking surgery to treat obesity more efficiently. One viable option for treatment is bariatric surgery, which is a surgery that changes the digestive system to help one lose excess weight and keep it off long term.
In the past, bariatric surgery was used mostly in older, severely obese patients, but it has started being used more in younger people also. In this blog, we are going to understand bariatric surgery in young adults: risks, benefits, and considerations.
What is bariatric surgery?
Bariatric surgery is a treatment used to help people lose weight when other methods have not been successful, like diet and exercise. It involves sculpting or reshaping the digestive tract (either by reducing stomach size or bypassing some of the intestines) so that food intake and nutritional uptake are limited. So, this is how bariatrics works.
What are the risks of bariatric surgery in young adults?
As such, there is no risk in bariatric surgery, but every major surgery contains some risk. These risks can be ignored if you properly follow up with your doctor and their diet plans. Some common risks are
- After the surgery, there are chances of infection, bleeding, and blood clots. But it’s temporary; it can be cured by overtime.
- The surgery can reduce the body’s ability to absorb essential nutrients like vitamin B12, calcium, and iron.
- If the teenager goes through drastic surgery, then there can be consequences that can impact their bone development, their hormonal imbalance, and overall growth.
- Young patients may face some challenging issues because of the adjustment to their lifestyle.
- In some cases, if young adults do not follow a proper diet plan, then there is a high chance of gaining weight.
What are the benefits of bariatric surgery in young adults?
Significant weight loss: By this surgery, your stomach size reduces and also alters the digestion, which limits the food intake.
Improved health condition: It improves obesity and other health-related conditions like type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, and also prevents future complications like heart-related issues.
Physical activity: it enhances your physical activity. With reduced weight, young adults get confidence and experience an increase in stamina and joint function. Moreover, it becomes easier to participate in sports activities.
Emotional health: It also improves your emotional health, like helping in decreasing depression and anxiety, and improves self-confidence, which leads to better concentration, social interaction, etc.
What are the considerations of breast surgery in young adults?
Before going for bariatric surgery, the young adults should make sure that
- Their BMI is more than 40 or higher, or their BMI is 30 or higher with an obesity-related health condition.
- Young adults have already tried all the methods for weight loss, like diet, exercise, and gym, but nothing works.
- Before going for surgery, they should be fully mature, meaning they are ready for their body or lifestyle to change.
- It’s not like that after bariatric surgery, your work is done; you should commit to following a healthy diet, regular exercise, and proper follow-up with the doctor.
So this is Bariatric Surgery in Young Adults: Risks, Benefits, and Considerations. As there are different types of cardiac surgery, which one you choose depends on your age and health, but before you have to choose a doctor who not only provides you the treatment but also post-care, like Dr. Nandakishore Dukkipati, a leading doctor who provides the best treatment with the best care and walks with you at every step.
About Dr. Nandakishore Dukkipati
Dr. Nandakishore Dukkipati, a renowned American Board of Surgery-certified bariatric surgeon, is a pioneer in the field of weight loss and metabolic surgery. With years of experience, he is one of the best bariatric doctors who provides Bariatric Surgery in Hyderabad. With this, he also specializes in providing a gastric sleeve, a gastric band, and a gastric bypass.
