EBSCO Health

Print PageSend to a Friend
Health Library Home>Medical Animations>Article

Treatment for Obesity - Medications and Surgery


Transcript

Treatments for obesity.

Medications and bariatric surgical procedures.

You may be put on weight-loss medication for obesity if:

your BMI if thirty or more,

or if your BMI is twenty-seven or more and you also have an obesity-related health problem, such as diabetes or high blood pressure.

Some weight-loss medications prevent your body from taking in fat from the food you eat.

Other weight-loss medications work by making you feel less hungry.

Your healthcare provider may advise a bariatric surgical procedure if:

your BMI is forty or more,

or if your BMI is thirty-five or more and you also have obesity-related health problems.

During a sleeve gastrectomy procedure, your surgeon will remove most of your stomach.

This leaves a smaller sleeve-like tube about the size of a banana, called a gastric sleeve.

The smaller gastric sleeve holds less food and makes you feel full more quickly.

During an adjustable gastric band procedure, your surgeon will place a band around the top of your stomach.

This makes a smaller pouch to hold food.

As a result, you will feel full when eating smaller portions of food.

In another surgical procedure, called a “roux-en-Y gastric bypass,” your surgeon will close off the top of your stomach with staples.

This will create a small pouch.

Then, a section of your small intestine will be attached to the small stomach pouch.

This new connection bypasses most of your stomach, as well as the part of your small intestine where most of the nutrients from the food you eat are absorbed.

As a result, you will eat less food, and your body won’t absorb as much of it.

After a bariatric procedure, it’s important to follow the dietary guidelines from your healthcare provider and to stay physically active.

If you have any questions about medications or surgical procedures for obesity, talk to your healthcare provider.