A smaller stomach may not be the only reason why post-gastric bypass
patients eat less.
A recent study done at the Emory University in Atlanta found a
significant drop in a hunger-related hormone in post-gastric bypass
patients. The hormone is called ghrelin, and is one of 24 different
hormones that may help to regulate the appetite.
After patients received the Roux-en-Y procedure, the most common form of
gastric bypass surgery, the researchers found the hormone ghrelin
dropped by almost a third.
During the weight loss procedure, the size of the stomach is reduced,
and some of the upper intestines are bypassed. It is thought that the
ghrelin hormone may normally be produced in the bypassed areas of the
gastric system.
Dr. Edward Lin, the lead researcher in the study, believes that ghrelin
is one of the most powerful appetite stimulating hormones naturally
produced in the body. Lowered levels of the hormone may help patients
lose weight after their surgery, along with the strict post-surgical
diet and the smaller stomach.
Another study conducted by doctors at King's College London and
Hammersmith Hospital discovered that gastric bypass patients produced
higher levels of the PYY hormone. This hormone is normally released
after a meal to tell the brain you're full. After a meal, most thin
people's PYY hormone level increases by 50%. However, the study found
that post-gastric bypass patients had a 150% increase in their levels of
this appetite suppressing hormone.
Interestingly, obese patients who did not undergo the weight loss
surgery had little or no increase in the PYY hormone after a full meal.
Also, the increased hormone level was found in patients after standard
gastric bypass surgery, but not after a gastric banding.
Research is now underway to see if these hormonal changes may be used as
an alternative treatment for obesity, without the surgery. Hope for a
non-surgical weight loss cure was stirred in 2002 when researchers
reported some success in reducing the weight of obese rats with the PYY
hormone. Unfortunately, other researchers have been unable to repeat
their findings.
Of course, hormones are not the only reasons that gastric bypass
patients feel less hungry. Patients are restricted to a water fast for a
week or more after their surgery, and many people who experience water
fasts find they have no appetite after the first day or two. During the
Roux-en-Y procedure, the size of the stomach is greatly reduced, and
only small amounts can be comfortably eaten at one time. Many foods,
such as red meat and foods high in sugar and fat, can cause nausea and
vomiting in post-surgical patients. And most gastric bypass patients
receive psychological, behavioral and nutritional counseling both before
and after the procedure.
Most post-surgical patients will lose up to 80% of their excess weight
after the surgery, but some of this weight is often regained, so much
more research is needed.
If scientists can find a hormone or herb that will safely and
consistently suppress the appetite and put a stop to habitual
overeating, one of the world's most common illnesses will have found an
easy cure.
About The Author
Jonni Good is the publisher of
1 Gastric Bypass.com which offers more
information about
gastric bypass surgery, post-gastric
bypass diet and gastric bypass complications. Visit her website at
www.1GastricBypass.com
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