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To
better understand how weight loss surgery works, it is important to understand
how your gastrointestinal tract functions. Normally, as food moves
along the digestive tract, digestive juices and enzymes digest and absorb
calories and nutrients. Food material that is not absorbed is then prepared
for elimination.
A simplified
description of the gastrointestinal tract appears below. Your doctor
can provide a more detailed description to help you better understand how
weight loss surgery works.
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After
you chew and swallow food, it moves down the esophagus -- a long muscular
tube which moves food from the mouth to the stomach.
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When the
food arrives in the stomach, situated at the top of the abdomen, it is
mixed with an acid that is produced to assist in digestion. In the
stomach, acid and other digestive juices are added to the ingested food
to facilitate breakdown of complex proteins, fats, and carbohydrates into
small, more absorbable units. The stomach can hold about three pints
of food at one time. A valve at the entrance to the stomach from the esophagus
allows the food to enter while keeping the acid-laden food from “refluxing”
back into the esophagus, causing damage and pain.
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Food empties
from the stomach through a process called peristalsis or involuntary muscle
contractions, passing gradually into the small intestine.
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The small
intestine is about 15 to 20 feet long and is where the majority of absorption
of the nutrients from food takes place. The small intestine is made up
of three sections: the duodenum, the jejunum and the ileum.
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The duodenum
is the first section of the small intestine and is where the food is mixed
with bile produced by the liver and with other enzymes from the pancreas.
Food, bile, enzymes, and liquids are brought together in the dodenum and
passed to the jejunum.
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The jejunum
is the middle part of the small intestine extending from the duodenum to
the ileum; it is responsible for breaking down food into essential elements.
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The last
segment of the intestine, the ileum, is where the absorption of food and
liquids occurs. Waste products of this process pass from the small intestines
into the large intestines or colon. The primary function of the colon is
to store waste products of the digestive process prior to elimination.
In bariatric
surgery, restrictive procedures reduce the size of the stomach, thus decreasing
the amount of food the stomach can hold. Malabsorptive procedures actually
bypass the areas of the digestive tract that absorb calories and nutrients. |
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