How to prevent saggy skin after Vertical sleeve surgery?

A vertical sleeve gastrectomy is surgical weight-loss procedures that can help patients treat obesity. In a vertical sleeve gastrectomy, a large portion of the stomach is removed, and only a small pouch is left behind.
 The pouch left behind is smaller in size and makes you feel full after eating less food. Due to this reason, a significant weight loss is experienced. Therefore, in the aftermath of a vertical sleeve gastrectomy surgery, loose excess skin may trouble many patients.
Genetics plays a major role in determining the amount of loose skin you would experience. Exercise and nutrition can help prevent shaggy skin. Below are a few easy steps you can take before your surgery to prevent sagging:
Have patience:
Loose skin is a positive sign that you are losing weight. Wait for twelve months post your surgery to come up with a strategy to treat your shaggy skin.
Build muscles:
Build muscles to treat shaggy skin. Get actively involved in a regular exercise program. Target problematic areas specifically. Strength training gives loose skin something firm to lie on. The firmer your skin gets the better it looks.
Have a surgery:
Sometimes surgery is the only answer for the treatment of loose skin. Even if you are young and eat healthily there may be still changes that you won't be able to get rid of all the loose skin.
Avoid the loss and gain cycle:
Avoid constant losing and gaining weight as it may make your condition worse. Constantly gaining and losing weight stretches skin out even more and destroys the elasticity of it.
Exercise:
Exercise daily and spend time outdoors or run. Use a treadmill for 10 minutes daily, if you cannot run outdoors. Wear a neoprene warming wrap when running it will help boost toning.
Do not wait:
If you talk to any doctor or midwife they will tell you it is wise to take action when the first signs of stretch marks show up. When the stretch marks are new and red treat them. Wear a neoprene wrap to increase firming in desired areas. Lift your arms and legs gently to get good results.
Lift weights:
Lift small weights to increase the toning of your arms. Lift the weights up until they are at the same level as your shoulders.
Nutrition:
Eat foods that are low in fat and rich in vitamin A. Vitamin A can help the skin to regenerate healthy skin cells. Try food products rich in antioxidants like berries, pomegranate, and plums . Antioxidants help in maintaining a healthy skin.
Avoid anything with refined sugar and carbohydrates. Over -processed food can make your skin sag even more.
Drink enough water:
Water plays a crucial role in treating shaggy skin. Drink eight glasses of water daily. Water will increase circulation and helps hydrate skin and improve elasticity.
Contact a dermatologist:
Contact a dermatologist and ask for skin firming or tightening moisturizer. You can use these moisturizers all over your body and concentrate on troubled areas specifically.
Protect your skin from the sun:
Wear a sunscreen of SPF 40 or higher when going out in the sun. Sun damage contributes to the shaggy skin.
Weight gain is possible, even after Gastric Bypass:
Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is a surgery which is normally performed on a morbidly obese patient. Surgical reduction of fat is far more effective than conventional techniques. However, surgical intervention may be successful for a period of time. Patients sometimes gain the same amount of weight or more after surgery.  It is one of the greatest fears of patients seeking weight-loss surgery.
It is not uncommon for a patient to come with stories of losing a significant amount of weight after the surgery but gaining even double the amount of weight. But, the good news is that post-operation you can maintain your weight loss.
It is important to keep in mind that obesity is a chronic disease that cannot be cured just by surgery. Surgery is a powerful tool for significant weight-loss, but it is important to maintain a strict diet to see long term results.
There are several reasons of weight regain after a weight loss surgery.  If these reasons are addressed properly, you may be successful in maintaining your weight loss.
What causes weight gain after Gastric Bypass?
There are four reasons for weight gain after  Gastric Bypass, which are:
• High-calorie diet
• Lack of exercise
• Stretching of the stomach pouch
Not engaging in the lifestyle changes is one of the major reasons for weight gains after surgery.

How to mentally prepare for Roux-en-Y surgery?

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is a weight-loss surgery that can help you combat obesity. Weight-loss surgery can also be called bariatric surgery.

The surgery can help you to reduce the size of your upper stomach. The surgeons do this by stapling off the upper section of the stomach to a small pouch. The surgeon then attaches this pouch directly to the part of the small intestine called the Roux limb. This surgery reduces the amount of food you can eat greatly. The surgery also reduces the amount of fat and calories you can absorb. It can reduce the amount of vitamins and minerals you absorb from food.

How to get ready for Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery?

You need to talk to your doctor or your healthcare professional before deciding on a gastric bypass surgery. Weight-loss surgery may be dangerous for people who abuse medicines or alcohol. If you do not commit to a lifelong change in diet and exercise habits your surgery may be useless.You may need to have various lab tests and exams before surgery.

If you are a chain smoker you need to stop smoking several months before the surgery. Sometimes doctors may advise you to lose some weight before the surgery, as it makes your liver smaller and make it safer to operate. Blood-thinning medicines are risky if you are getting a Roux-en-Y surgery. You need to consult a physician and stop consuming them before surgery.

You need to enroll in a bariatric surgery education program before going forward with the surgery. It will educate you on how to prepare for surgery, and life after surgery. Nutritional and psychological counseling would be provided. Physical test and blood test has to be performed before the surgery. Imaging studies of your stomach and an upper endoscopy will be performed before the surgery. Before surgery, you should not eat or drink anything after midnight.

How to prepare for the surgery:

• Arrange help at home post-surgery.

• Minimize your risk of complications.

• Making sure to follow the surgeon’s  pre-surgery diet.

• Take medications that may be prescribed by your surgeon.

• Reduce stress.

• Save money.

• Construct a plan to keep the weight off over the long-term.

• Bring all your paperwork and required documents before the surgery.

What happens after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery?

After surgery, you may need to stay in the hospital for one or two days. Be prepared for a hospital stay. You may experience symptoms like fever and other complication. Talk with your doctor about wound care, pain medicines, and physical activity. 

Initial weight-loss that you may experience will occur quickly, therefore it is  important to get all of the nutrition and vitamins needed to recover. Your doctor may prescribe vitamin and mineral supplements. Your body may no longer be able to absorb vitamins and minerals from food alone.

In these kinds of weight loss surgeries, you need to prepare mentally for weight loss and skin sagging. Contact a psychologist or therapist if you experience body image issues.

Stomach band surgery reduces the size of stomach:

Obesity is a growing concern in the modern world. Lifestyle modification is the only fix for it, but surgical options are becoming more popular as the problem is getting out of hand. One of the surgical treatments for obesity is called gastric banding, which is also known as lap-band surgery.

What is gastric banding?
Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) is a surgical procedure which is used to place an adjustable belt around the upper portion of the stomach using a laparoscope. It may help to reduce the size of the stomach to a small pouch. The band used in the surgery is made of silicone and can be tightened by adding saline to it. The band is connected to a port that is placed under the skin of the abdomen which is used to introduce or remove saline.
The surgery is ultimately designed to restrict the size of the stomach and the amount of food it can hold. It has also been helpful to slow the passage of food to the intestines. This process will signal the brain from the gut that will allow for a sensation of fullness with the consumption of less food. This signal is primarily sent from the small pouch created by the band in the upper stomach. When the pouch fills a similar signal may be sent to the brain.

What Are the Results of Gastric Banding?
Gastric banding leads to 35 to 40-pound weight loss in patients.  However, the results may vary from patient to patient. Gastric banding is considered the least invasive weight loss surgery and also the safest. The procedure can be reversed if necessary, and in time, the stomach generally returns to its normal size.
Who is the surgery for?
The surgery is for people with body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more. That would be people who are about 100 pounds overweight. If you have tried everything and failed to lose weight by other means this surgery is for you.
The surgery can prevent you from being able to eat a lot by reducing the size of your stomach. This means that you will feel full more quickly by eating less.
The surgery may change the way that your body handles the food that you eat. The surgery might make the food that you eat bypass part of your intestine so that fewer calories are absorbed by your body.

Benefits of this surgery:
• Type 2 diabetes can be completely reversed or it can be controlled more efficiently.
• Severely obese people, after weight loss surgery, may live longer. The risk of stroke, heart attacks, some types of cancer and liver disease may be reduced greatly.
• Studies have shown that people who have had these surgeries are less likely to develop high blood pressure in the future.
Stomach band surgery can not only reduce your stomach size it can also provide other health benefits. Stomach band surgery has saved the lives of many. However, a strict diet and exercise regime is important to maintain the results.

Liver shrinking diet for Gastric Bypass:
Liver shrinking diet should be started two weeks prior to the scheduled surgery date. You need to start a diet consisting of liquids, and protein shakes. Gastric bypass surgery may be life-saving, but for it to be safe you need to reduce the size of your liver. You will also reduce your co-morbidities with the surgery.
The surgery may sound simple, but it is not. You need to start eating healthy four to five weeks before your surgery. A liver shrinking diet will allow you to reduce the size of your liver and enhance the safety of your procedure. The meal plan should be low in carbohydrates, fat, and calories. A large liver may prevent your surgeon from visualizing certain areas during the procedure. This makes it unsafe to perform gastric bypass surgery. The surgeon may cancel the entire procedure.
Eating the wrong diet can have several negative effects, one of it is undue pressure on your healing stomach. To reduce the amount of fat around the liver and spleen, follow a pre-operative liquid diet fifteen days before the gastric bypass surgery. The surgery may be delayed or canceled if this procedure is not followed.

The pre-op diet can include the following elements:
• Protein shakes or meal replacement shakes should be the primary constituent of the diet.
• Consume only sugar-free beverages.
• Cut down on caffeinated or carbonated beverages completely.
• The patient can consume soup broth with no solid pieces of food.
• Vegetable juice can be extremely beneficial.
• Cream of rice can be consumed.
• Lean meat and vegetables may be consumed on your surgeon's direction.
• Diet tea can be consumed along.
• Fruits are not allowed during the liver reduction diet.
Liquids should be sipped very slowly and should not be consumed with meals. The patient should wait for thirty minutes after consuming a meal to have any type of liquid.

Approved diet chart before Gastric Bypass surgery:
• One meal daily can consist of:
1. 3-4 oz lean meat – once a day
Lean meat may include fish, beef, chicken, pork, lamb. However, no fried meat would be allowed.
Seasonings such as garlic, pepper, old bay, and salt may be allowed.
2. Two to three cups of non –starchy vegetables.
They should be cooked or eaten raw.  Bread, beans, corn,  pasta, potatoes, rice,  and peas are not allowed. Vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, carrots, carrots, cauliflower, cucumber, peppers, eggplant squash, tomatoes, green beans,  mushrooms,  zucchini, onions, spinach, greens, Brussels sprouts, etc.
3. Vegetables can be cooked or consumed as salads.
• Snack - once a day
Any low-fat dairy serving that contains 2 oz of low-fat cheese, 6 oz of Greek yogurt, and 4 oz of 2% cottage cheese.

Any beverage or powder the patient consumes should contain:
• 20 grams or less of carbohydrate
• 10 grams or less of fat
• 15 grams or more of protein
• Less than 230 calories.
It is important to follow a strict diet weeks before the surgery. You can contact a dietician or your surgeon for specific dietary, vitamins, minerals, and medicine suggestions.

WHY GENETIC TESTING AND GENETIC COUNSELING IS IMPORTANT

Genetics is the study of heredity, studying the genes and the surroundings and how they form one’s personality. It focuses on a single gene and their variations. Genetic disorder is an inherited condition in which a whole or part of the DNA sequence is damaged. It is a condition caused due to abnormality in the DNA. The condition is induced by mutations which are inherited from parents and it exists in an individual from the time of birth. One such example is the sickle cell disease. But some of the genetic disorders are caused due to damage of the genetic material that is being passed from parent to the child.

Genetic disorder is classified into three groups.

·         Mono genetic disorders-It leads to a single gene mutation. It may exist on either of the chromosomes.

·         Multi factorial inheritance disorders-It leads to the combination of mutation of multiple genes and environmental factors.

·          Chromosome disorders-It leads to deficiency of genes that are situated on chromosomes.

Genetic testing is performed to examine the DNA and the chemical database of the body functions. It reveals the information about the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the condition.

The following are the genetic testing conditions:

•         Testing for diagnosis- It helps in recognizing the disease which makes the patient ill. The test result helps in managing and treating the patient.

•         Testing for predictive and pre-symptomatic genetics- It helps in identifying the changes in the gene which in turn results in an increased development of the disease. The test results give the information about the developing risk of a specific disease. This information will be beneficial in concluding the lifestyle and healthcare of the patient.

•         Testing for carrier-It is useful to identify the people who carry a change in the gene which is related to the disease. It doesn’t show any sign of the disease. But it has the ability to transfer this altered gene to the next generation. Therefore the newborn may develop some kind of disease. This is recommended to the people who have a family history of inherited disease.

•         Testing for prenatal-It is generally proposed during pregnancy. It helps to examine the fetus whether is having a disease condition.

•         Screening for newborn-It helps in testing the babies one or two day before the time of birth. To identify the disease that is known to cause a health problem in the newborn.

•         Testing for pharmocogenomic-It provides the information on how certain medicine is processed. This testing benefits the physician in choosing the medication that works best for the patient.

•         Testing for genetic research-It is useful in learning more of health and environment factors that are contributing the disease. It may benefit the researchers to know more about the human body, health and disease.

Genetic Counseling

Genetic counseling will help people learn about the genetic conditions. It is beneficial to identify the chances of being affected by family members, and therefore leads to the conclusion of treating and testing condition.

Following are the reasons for people to go for genetic counseling

•         To know the family history of genetic condition in a person.

•         To find out more about genetic screening.

•         To talk about the abnormal tests results during pregnancy.

•         To find out the risk of developing of certain types of genetic condition.

•         To acquire information about the affects of genetic disorders when exposed to X-rays, chemicals, illness etc.

•         To know the reason for recurrent miscarriages.

•         To know the reason for the delay in pregnancy.

•         To identify any previous pregnancies that caused genetic condition or birth defect.

•         To know birth defects and disabilities in newborn screening.

Genetic testing is beneficial in order to identify the diseases hidden in our gene. Once the condition is detected, the physician will prescribe medications that will effectively cure and prevent the disorder. It will also help in providing useful information while planning for children in the future. Genetic professionals will educate the people who are suffering from a family history of genetic conditions. They may also advice a treatment option for the genetic condition. Precautions taken on time can help in maintaining the well-being of the people.

WHAT WE ALL NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OUR BLOOD TYPE

Along with lifestyle and nutrition, the blood type also plays a major role in the body of the person. Blood is highly essential to the body and plays an important role in transporting oxygen from the lungs to the tissues and carbon-di-oxide from the tissues back to the lungs. There are 4 blood groups namely A, B, AB and O. Each individual is born with a different blood type. It is very important for the person to know his/her own blood type. Knowing the characteristics of your blood helps in improving your health.

Did you know that your blood type plays an important role in your health and body? If no, below mentioned are a few points we all need to know about each of our blood types. Blood types play a role in the following areas.

DIET AND NUTRITION

Blood type plays a major role in nutrition and diet. It is very important for digestion and weight loss. People should consume food based on their own blood type which helps in improving the overall health of the individual. For e.g., people with blood type A are recommended to have more of vegetables, people with blood type B are asked to have red meat over chicken, people with blood type AB are recommended to have more of sea foods and lean meat and people with blood type O are recommended to consume foods rich in protein.

ONE’S PERSONALITY

Did you know that blood type could affect a person’s personality? People with blood group A are supposed to be peaceful, artistic and trustworthy. People with blood group B are said to be dedicated, goal-oriented, strong and independent. People with blood group AB are usually shy, reliable, responsible and like taking care of others. People with blood type O are considered as extraverts, creative, social and confident.

ABDOMEN

Blood type also plays an important role in the abdomen. People with blood group A digest carbohydrates easily when compared to the other blood types and therefore, people with this blood type rarely have fat around their belly. On the other hand, people with blood group O find difficulty in digestion and are more prone to develop bellyfat.

DISEASES

It is very important to know the characteristics of one’s blood type. Due to the different formations of antigens on the surface of the blood cells, every blood type is different. Each blood group is resistant to a type of disease and susceptible to another. Therefore, knowing the characteristics of one’s blood type is essential in order to prevent specific diseases.

STRESS LEVELS

Apart from personality and nutrition, blood type also plays an important role during stress. Blood type influences a person’s tolerance levels during stressful conditions. A person with blood group A produce more amount of cortisol-stress hormone. A person with blood group O has higher chances of getting furious quickly. These people may possess an increased level of adrenaline and may require more time to recover from stressful conditions.

MARRIAGE

Apart from verifying your partner’s background, it is very important to know his/hers blood type. Certain blood types should not be mixed in case you plan for an offspring. For e.g., couples with blood group A and B should not be mixed. Also, the property of blood called the RH factor should not be mixed because if the mother has RH- and the baby in the womb possesses RH+ blood, the RH- of the mother may develop antibodies which may attack the baby. Therefore it is important to know the blood group of your partner to be aware of such conditions.

PREGNANCY

Blood type also affects pregnancy. It has been documented that women with a particular blood type have an increased chance of getting pregnant when compared to other women with different blood groups. A study shows that women with blood type AB produce less follicle-stimulating hormone which helps in conceiving with ease.

EXERCISE

Stress is our biggest enemy. People with blood type A are more prone to stress and therefore they need to perform exercises to keep calm such as yoga, and meditation. On the other hand, people with blood type B like to indulge in challenging activities for their body and spirit and therefore to balance these two, they tend to perform activities like tennis, martial arts, trekking etc.

EMERGENCY PURPOSE

We all know the importance and demand for blood during an emergency. It is highly recommended for people to carry information such as full name, address, blood type, phone number, with you at all times. Considering the fact that you can accept blood only from compatible donors, this basic information is very important in crucial moments like an accident or injury. Carry this information with you as you may require blood transfusion.

Getting to know these interesting facts about blood types will be helpful for you to be aware and alert at all times.