Welcome to the Bariatric Learning Center. We publish independent, unbiased news about the bariatric weight-loss surgery.
The Modesto Bee (a California newspaper) ran a story on their website yesterday about a woman suffering from complications of gastric bypass surgery. She lost more than 100 pounds, but she also lost her health in the process. She new struggles with chronic malnutrition and anemia.
We have a policy here at the Bariatric Learning Center to share both sides of the story, regarding gastric bypass and other forms of weight loss surgery. So we are publishing the tale of this patient’s struggle with gastric bypass complications.
Now to be fair, we must also point out that cases such as this are rare. Most patients who undergo weight loss surgery do not suffer from serious complications, and this procedure has certainly improved the lives of many people.
But as with any other medical procedure, there is a certain percentage of patients who do experience complications from gastric bypass and other bariatric surgeries. Unfortunately, the woman featured in this story is a real-life example of the potential complications you might face as a patient of weight loss surgery.
It has always been my position that the risks associated with these surgeries are downplayed, especially on the websites of the bariatric surgeons and surgery centers themselves. I feel that this is purely negligent, and that the potential complications should be given more attention by the practitioners of bariatric surgery. But they are in a business, after all, and business is booming. So more often than not, the potential risks and complications seem to get tucked away in some obscure part of the surgeon’s website.
To those surgeons who give proper attention to the possible complications of gastric bypass and the other, less invasive procedures — I salute you. But you are in the respectable minority. So we are here to help fill in the information gap.
Gastric Bypass Complications
The woman featured in the Modesto Bee news article exemplifies one of the most common complications associated with gastric bypass surgery. She suffers from various iron and vitamin deficiencies as a result of her surgery, because her body is less able to absorb the nutrients it needs from the food she eats.
This is part of the aftermath of gastric bypass procedures, but there are other potential complications as well. So in this article, I’d like to share some of that information with you.
If you’d like to learn about the potential complications of bariatric surgery in general, you can check out this article here on our website.
And here is a roundup of what experts are saying about gastric bypass in particular:
- A few years ago, CBS News cited a university study that found 1 in 50 patients of gastric bypass died within one month of their surgery.
- According to the National Institutes of Health, the potential risks of gastric bypass include anemia (a result of iron and B12 deficiency), calcium deficiency, respiratory failure, gallstones, and general malnourishment.
- The Mayo Clinic’s website also mentions blood clots as being a possible complication of this surgery. Though they initially occur in the legs in most cases, the clots can travel toward the lungs, where they can damage the lung tissue and even cause death in some cases. Their website also mentions the vitamin and mineral deficiencies that can occur.
- Back in 2007, we published a press release about a university study that found connections between gastric bypass surgery and several neurological conditions.
This article is not meant to be an all-inclusive review of gastric bypass complications and risks. So if you are seriously considering this type of weight loss surgery, you should continue your research beyond this website.
