Dr. Mustafa Ahmed is a board-certified bariatric surgeon and weight-loss specialist with a busy practice, Southern Nevada Bariatrics, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Patients value Dr. Ahmed’s outstanding medical skills as well as his genuine commitment to helping people achieve their weight-loss dreams.
He’s helped many of his patients reach their goals with the help of bariatric surgery and is happy to provide information about these life-changing procedures.
Contents
Bariatric surgery basics
Bariatric surgery is designed to aid in significant weight loss by altering your digestive system. There are various types of bariatric procedures available. Some work by limiting how much food you can eat while others change the way your body absorbs various nutrients. A few methods cover both issues.
The goal of these surgeries is to help induce dramatic weight loss. True, long-term success, however, also requires making healthy changes in your diet and adding regular exercise to your normal routine.
What are the benefits of bariatric surgery?
If you’ve struggled to lose weight despite strict dieting and routine exercise, bariatric surgery can supply the boost you need to accomplish your goals, including maintaining your healthier weight in the future.
Along with its cosmetic reward, losing those excess pounds also helps reduce the health risks associated with numerous obesity-linked conditions, including:
- Heart disease
- Stroke
- High blood pressure
- Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
- Sleep apnea
- Type 2 diabetes
Most often, weight-loss surgery is done laparoscopically, which is less invasive than traditional open surgery and requires only a few small incisions in the upper abdomen. This speeds healing time and helps reduce the risk of various postsurgical complications, such as bleeding and infection at the incision site.
Bariatric surgery types
There are numerous types of bariatric surgery available, but Dr. Ahmed prefers two methods due to their overall effectiveness and patient satisfaction:
Sleeve gastrectomy
Sleeve gastrectomy reduces your stomach size by about 80%. This limits the amount of food you’re able to eat, thus greatly reducing your calorie count.
It also has a positive effect on gut hormones, those that control your hunger, satiety (feeling of fullness), and blood sugar. Research continues to show that sleeve gastrectomy can effectively reduce blood sugar levels to nearly normal before weight loss even begins.
Gastric bypass
More complex than sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass is a procedure that reduces your stomach size by about 95%, leaving you with a small pouch that holds about 1 ounce of food. During the surgery, Dr. Ahmed also creates a detour between your resized stomach and small intestine, which causes you to absorb fewer calories from the food you eat.
Gastric bypass also alters the gut hormones that control your hunger and satiety. It has an even greater effect on blood sugar levels than sleeve gastrectomy, which significantly increases your odds of improved diabetes control. Typically performed laparoscopically, the procedure can also be done via one large abdominal incision.
Schedule a visit today for more information about the many benefits of bariatric surgery and other medically supervised weight-loss programs we offer here at Southern Nevada Bariatrics.