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Gastric bypass surgery is becoming more common as people look for a way to combat morbid obesity in adults and some teenagers. The road to having this complex surgery is not to be taken lightly. If you are more than a hundred pounds overweight, and have a BMI (body mass index) of 40 or above, then you may qualify for this extreme medical obesity treatment. If you have tried other methods for losing weight and none of them have helped you permanently shed the pounds, then you may feel that having a gastric bypass is your last hope of beating obesity once and for all.

The only way you will know for sure if gastric bypass surgery is a good option, is to make an appointment with your doctor or an obesity specialist. A staff of medical professionals will evaluate your current state of health, as well as, your psychological state of mind. They will combine all of this information with your medical history to determine if you’re a good candidate. If you pass the screening and are approved for the procedure, you may be surprised to find out that you may have to lose some weight before they operate on you.

Because gastric bypass is very risky, your doctor will require you to be at a certain weight that they consider safe. Your medical team will also want you to be as healthy as possible so that your body can withstand the long hours in the operating room. Nutrition plays a big role in the pre-operative preparations for this procedure. Just because you’ve been eating a lot and are overweight, doesn’t mean that your body has been getting the right amount of nutrients. In fact, more than likely, your diet has been missing a lot of essential proteins and vitamins. Your doctor will probably put you on a strict diet that includes protein rich foods.

Although, cutting down on calories and eliminating the fatty foods that you are used to eating will be hard to get used to, it’s important to remember that you are doing this to preserve your long term health and increase your life expectancy. There will still be plenty of good tasting foods that you can eat, but you’ll need to make a commitment to learning how to prepare your food in a healthier way. Your doctor may give you a specific diet plan to follow, or you can find a low calorie cookbook that includes recipes for meals that include lots of protein rich foods.

Protein helps to keep your body strong and functioning properly. You can eat protein for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the form of lean meats (chicken, fish and turkey), eggs, beans, dairy (cheese, milk and yogurt) and grains.

You will probably be on this restricted diet for many weeks, so you’ll also need to be very patient with yourself and with your doctor. Sometimes you may even feel a bit irritable due to the lack of food, but if you hang in there, after a while you’ll get used to your new diet. You’ll also be encouraged to exercise in order to speed up the weight loss process. At times you may feel like your progress is slow, and that you’ll never get to that surgery date, but with lots of persistence, you’ll make it there.

The nutritional changes that you are already making in your eating habits, should be very evident after a few weeks. You’ll see that you have more energy to move around than you did when you were eating too many unhealthy foods. This is exactly what the doctors want to see. When you eat healthy, protein rich foods and vegetables regularly, you are building up the stamina you need in order to undergo your bypass surgery and come out of it successfully.

Okay, now we’re going to jump ahead to the time after your bypass surgery. This is when the real test will come, and you’ll prove to yourself and others whether or not you can permanently change your eating patterns. Simply having the surgery isn’t enough to ensure that you’ll never be obese again. You must absolutely be committed to sticking with your new diet and exercise plan and follow it as if your life depends on it – because it does.

The surgery has shrunken your stomach and allows only a small amount of food to be digested at one time. This means that you’ll be taking in less calories and also less nutrients with every meal. Making sure that you get enough protein in your diet really becomes critical to your health and well being. After the surgery, you need to eat lots of protein rich foods so that you can build up muscle as your body burns off the excess fat. Protein also helps keep your body tissue strong and protects you from getting sick.

Some people, who have gone through the surgery, tend to slack off on their healthy diet after a while and slowly find the pounds creeping back on. This is because they either ignore, or fail to understand that the gastric bypass patient must always keep the body’s nutritional needs in mind when preparing each meal. Of course, you’re going to eat a few fat-filled treats every now and then, that’s normal. But if you have a history of being addicted to unhealthy foods, you should sit down with your doctor or a dietitian and have them help you come up with a diet plan that is both healthy, and realistic for you to stay on. You may still need to prepare certain gastric bypass foods after 2 years of surgery.

Overall, gastric bypass surgery can do wonders in transforming an overweight person into a slim and trim one. However, it is not a magic bullet to a lifetime free of weight issues. There is a lot that has to be taken under consideration both before and after surgery. One of the most important factors that you must be constantly aware of is the nutritional needs of your body. You’ll need to learn how to eat healthier and how to choose foods that give you vitality and energy. If you do this, you’ll enjoy the long lasting benefits from gastric bypass.

‘Sinking’… every year the large island of Crete under the weight of the most obese residents of Europe!

This is not a pun but a harsh reality, as the last 40 years (1970 -2010) the average weight of the Cretans rose by 20 kg.
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The distressing finding brings to light, through scientific studies – the professor of surgery at the University of Crete and Director of Surgical Oncology Clinic of the University Hospital of Heraklion Mr. John Melissas, on the occasion of the event in Chania (29 to 31 October) 15th Pancretan Medical Conference.

“Unfortunately in the last 40 years the most healthy people worldwide in 1970, became the most obese in Greece and Europe in 2010” says Mr Melissas and adds “It is likely to sink Cretans health if preventive measures are not taken to tackle obesity, as is already the weight of the 700,000 inhabitants of the last 40 years have been added to 14,000,000 kg.”

According to the results of scientific and statistical studies, the Cretans in 1970 weighed 63 kg and burn 3,000 calories a day with hard physical work, equivalent to walking 15 km.

The diet often consisted of beans, fruits, vegetables, bread flour, whole grains, olive oil, olives, snails, and rarely consumed foods such as meat, fish and dairy products.

Today Cretan weighs 83 kg, consumes more calories without intense muscular exercise. They have unhealthy eating with frequent consumption of animal fats, meat, cheese and foods rich in unsaturated fatty acids.

They have also stopped eating fruit and salad vegetables that are beneficial foods rich in antioxidants that prevent aging body.

Study at the University of Crete

A recent study made by the University of Crete, 86.1% of farmers found with weight above normal. Of these, 42.9% were overweight and the remainder, ie 43.2% were obese with a BMI greater than 30.

These rates surpassing those of the urban population of Athens (which is estimated to be 73%), a city with obesity rates of the largest in Europe.

According to Mr Bee, the phenomenon is attributed to:

• The change in lifestyle.
• The abolition of the traditional Cretan diet.
• In sedentary.
• The fast pace and stress of everyday life that leads to the easy solution to fast food, even in rural areas of the island.

Worrying is also the rates of child and adolescent obesity in Crete, which is ten times more than those who were recorded in the 80’s.

The epidemic of obesity is certainly not only Greek phenomenon. The World Health Organization concludes that the number of people with excess weight will reach 2.3 billion people in 2015. Of these 700,000,000 are obese.

In Europe obesity is estimated to suffer 150,000,000 15,000,000 adults and children, while the disease is responsible for 1,000,000 deaths each year.

Huge is the financial burden caused by treatment of complications caused by diabetes such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease etc.

Preventive measures-information campaign of the people

“The problem is very serious and is beyond any delay on the preventive measures that should be taken immediately”,

said Mr Bees.

According to the professor, the Greek State in cooperation with scientific institutions of the island, local government and the Church should immediately develop and implement an information campaign about the problem.

Indeed, the weight problem information should be provided to parents and the youth (student and studying), because that’s where the problem has taken an epidemic.

Today in Crete, University Hospital, severe obesity is treated surgically since 1992. Operated on each year about 150 patients with severe obesity and comorbidities such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia, sleep apnea, etc.

The surgery has in recent years called metabolic surgery. Apply all known interventions, such as sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass, ring and cholopagkreatiki diversion. In recent years intervening treatment of type 2 diabetes, with very good results.

Obesity in our days is one of the most important nutritional problems in western societies. Many factors seem to contribute to increasing the frequency of obesity and many types of treatment have been tried, which are likely to be successful as long as the person ultimately change his eating habits.

Obesity is an epidemic and can not be solved with just dieting. Prevention seems to be the most effective and most long.

It has been shown that obesity increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes, and weight loss even 5-10% can reduce risk factors and blood pressure.

In short, obesity is a serious threat to health and insidious enemy of the aesthetics of the body. While in prehistoric times can play the role of a fat depot and ensure survival in times of famine, the only guarantee today is to reduce the life expectancy of the individual.

When it occurs?

Obesity can occur throughout the life of the individual. Sometimes it can take on dramatic proportions and the situation is described as malignant obesity

Why it occurs?

Obesity is characterized by excessive deposition of fat in the body. Normally the fat in whole, is 15-20% of body weight for men and 20-25% for women. In the obesity rates that can reach 40%, and in rare cases and 70% (malignant obesity). The distribution of this fat is genetically determined (structural fat) and vary by gender. Varies during puberty, at the time that developed and secondary sex characteristics.

What is the cause?

There are various factors causing obesity such as:

• Genetic factors
• Large caloric intake
• Reduced physical activity
• Taking medicines
• Psychological factors

Why western people are obese?

People in western societies do not realize that obesity is a disease.

After the Second World War, people had a significant deprivation of food, and now literally we are “on the abundance of food”.

Unfortunately we do not have proper information on a broad scale when it comes to food choices. Only in recent years people start to realize that the diet should be based on a lot of vegetables, legumes, fruits, fish and small amounts of meat and its products, the diet is linked to good health, less a violation of cardiovascular system against atherosclerosis, fewer tumors.

In addition only in recent years people begun to realize the value of physical activity, particularly the value of simple walking.

Treatment of obesity

• Change your eating habits

The main goal of treatment of obesity remains the weight loss, which can only be achieved by creating a negative energy balance by reducing the amount of food intake at 500-1000 calories less than the daily requirement.

Thus, new instructions, focusing on general diets with little or no reference to percentages and numbers. The purpose of the diet to maintain normal body weight, diet with healthy foods, maintaining low cholesterol levels and blood pressure regulation.

Proposed are two meals a week in large fish like tuna or salmon, or canned fish such as sardines or tuna. The proposal is based on research findings, indicating that the increased amount of omega-3 fatty acid containing fish may reduce the risk of heart disease.

Daily intake of cholesterol down to 300 mg for most people and for those who have heart problems or high blood pressure, cholesterol intake, set at 200 mg a day.

Permitted in healthy adults consuming an egg a day if the rest of cholesterol intake is limited, since according to other surveys, the consumption of egg yolk especially, do not increase the levels of blood cholesterol at all.

Other proposals relating to the limitation of fat processed foods such as biscuits, crackers, margarine, low-salt to 6 gr (about one teaspoon) per day and limiting alcohol to one drink per day for women and two for men.

Note also that the portion sizes, plays an important role in the development of obesity, and foods containing small amounts of fat, are not necessarily low in calories before proposing fast walking at least 30 minutes a day, for both physical activity as and calorie consumption.

• Physical exercise

An obese individual will need to increase physical activity, which helps in maximum fat loss while maintaining or strengthening muscles. The higher the percentage of lean body mass, the greater is the basal metabolism. That is, quite simply, “burn” more calories.

• Medication

The pharmaceutical treatment of obesity should be the second step in treatment. The obese person should resort to medication only when dietary treatment has been shown to fail in the treatment of obesity. The use of drugs for the treatment of obesity is combined with a plethora of side effects.

It should be noted that the use of anti-obesity drugs do not relieve the obese person from the need to undergo a diet and exercise. Just helps in weight loss and prevent relapse.

• Surgery

Third and last step in the treatment of obesity may be a surgical treatment. The obese person can be treated surgically, only when all other treatment attempts have failed or when it comes to morbid obesity, where risks to health and life of the individual is increased.

Orlistat, commercially marketed as Xenical, is a prescription drug used for the treatment of obesity. It is also known as tetrahydrolipstatin. It prevents the absorption of fat from your diet and is known to give the best results when used in conjunction with a low-calorie diet and exercise.

Brief major side effects of Xenical

If you are taking Xenical for obesity, you may experience some side effects, but it is not necessary that all who take this drug will experience problems. Most people do not experience any side effects at all. In case you experience side effects, please contact your doctor at the earliest. Clinical studies have shown that people who were taking Xenical experienced some side effects as compared to people who were not taking it. Xenical takes effect in your digestive system but does not affect the other parts of your body in any way.

Its side effects include:

• Faecal incontinence
• Nausea
• Fatty stool
• Back pain
• Headache
• atigue
• Uncontrolled bowel movement
• Pain in the stomach

Many side effects related to the digestive tract can be reduced by decreasing your intake of dietary fat. Avoid taking a meal high is fat content with Xenical.

Obesity

When excessive amounts of calories or fat is consumed, the body stores it, which causes weight gain. People eat more than they need and they consume foods that are not good for the health. Despite of nationwide campaigns that encourage people to eat a well balanced diet, people continue to eat unhealthy food. This trend not only gives rise to various chronic health conditions, but also leads to obesity and a state of being overweight. Obesity is the condition in which excess accumulation of fat occurs in the body to the extent that it has negative effects on your health. An individual is considered obese if his/her bodyweight is at least 20% higher than it should be. Also, the body mass index (BMI) should be 30 or above in order to be identified as obesity.

The major reasons for obesity:

• Sedentary lifestyle
  With the advent of televisions and computers, most people have started living a sedentary lifestyle. They have very little physical work to do unlike their parents and grandparents. Earlier, shopping meant walking around but now it means clicking on a product and entering your credit card number on the internet. The less you move, the fewer calories you burn and this leads to accumulation of fat in your body.
• Sleep deprivation
  Sleep is directly related to obesity. If you do not sleep enough, the risk of obesity rises by 100%. This is true for both, children and adults. Sleep deprivation leads to obesity. If you don’t sleep enough, the level of stress in your body increases. Stress increases your appetite.

Managing weight can be exasperating at times. You may need extra help in weight loss. Xenical aids in reduction of weight. It works best in conjunction with a healthy diet and regular exercise. Try to hit the gym at least 4 times a week.