Life after Weight Loss Surgery

Exploring your options
Individuals who deal with excessive body weight and diabetes could greatly benefit from gastric sleeve and gastric bypass surgery. Many studies have demonstrated how the body is positively impacted by surgery. For example, with the rise of certain hormones:

  • GLP-1
  • peptide-YY (PYY)
  • Insulin levels

All of these beneficial factors have been linked with post-surgery results from patients. A research study was conducted in which a team of doctors decided to concentrate on the GLP-1 hormone, as it is a significant hormonal agent associated with diabetic treatment. Many diabetic medications available on the market today, utilize some form the GLP-1 hormone. The researchers discovered that the elevated levels of GLP-1 post-surgery significantly improve blood glucose levels in patients.

The Clinical Evidence
The doctors wished to know why the GLP-1 levels climb so high after weight loss surgery. Usually, food is absorbed in the upper part of the digestive tract. However, following surgical treatment, it tended to occur further down in the stomach due to the gastrointestinal tract reformation that includes a Y-shape link between the bile and the pancreatic enzymes.

This is important because the majority of the digestion of food does not occur until the release of bile and pancreatic enzymes join together in the lower part of the digestive tract, which further encourages the release of GLP-1. 

Further Clinical Experimentation
Researchers sought to make use of the brand-new RNA sequencing and mass spectrometry technology in order to conduct further research. The group mapped the different areas of hormone peptides in the intestines of humans and lab mice, prior to as well as after the gastric sleeve surgical procedure.

They discovered that the cells generating the GLP-1 hormone and various other intestinal hormonal agents were not impacted by the surgical treatment. They concluded that the factor for the increase in GLP-1 levels is due to the increased secretion from the intestines, causing better absorption of vitamins and nutrients. This improved absorption which takes place in the gut, triggers increased levels of GLP-1 as well as PYY.

Conclusion
In the future, researchers hope to find out how to accurately manage these hormonal levels with a device or medication, in order to further facilitate weight management in patients.

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