Probiotics Help Gastric Bypass Surgery

For the so-called morbidly obese, gastric bypass surgery may be their only hope for slimming down to a healthier body weight. Such surgery isn’t without its own risks though, and isn’t always successful for a number of reasons. However, researchers may have discovered a way to increase the success of a specific type of gastric bypass surgery, called Roux en Y bypass.

One of the complications caused by gastric bypass surgery is the change in the bacterial flora of the stomach – the natural bacteria that you need to stay healthy. Researchers studied 44 patients who had had the bypass and who were given either probiotics or a placebo.

The results showed that after 6 months, the patients who had taken the probiotics did better than those who didn’t. They also lost weight more quickly than the patients who didn’t take probiotics, but eventually, that group did catch up in weight loss.

The abstact of the study is available at the journal’s website .

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