Gastric bypass is the most frequently undertaken operation for weight loss in the United States with about 140,000 surgeries being carried out every year. With a history dating back over 50 years, hundreds of surgeons have grown up with gastric bypass surgery and have developed a very good understanding of its benefits and risks.

Gastric bypass surgery is the final option when other types of dieting and weight loss have been unsuccessful and where you are considerably overweight. This normally means that you have a body mass index (BMI) greater than 40, or greater than 35 with an accompanying condition which increases the risk of disability or premature death. Such conditions would include heart disease, obstructive sleep apnea, hypertension and liver disease amongst others. In its simplest form, this equates to being some 100 pounds more than your ideal weight.

The principle behind the gastric bypass procedure is quite simply to lower the size of the stomach and to bypass the larger part of the stomach, as well as part of the intestine, constraining your ability to eat excessively and also reducing the body's absorption of the food that you do eat.

Despite the fact that open gastric bypass procedures are still commonly undertaken a growing number of surgeons are moving to the laparoscopic approach and, though this takes considerable training and expertise on the part of the surgeon, there are a variety of advantages to this approach. Here are just some:

1. Because patients are up and about very quickly following surgery there is a lower risk of pneumonia, blood clots, bed sores and other complications generally associated with immobility.

2. This type of surgery allows for greater precision because the procedure is done under magnification and surgeons can observe details not visible during traditional open surgery.

3. As the laprascopic procedure is quicker than open surgery the patient spends less time in the operating theatre and needs less anesthesia, bringing about fewer anesthesia-related complications.

4. This type of surgery permits you to go back to work in a relatively short timescale, normally as little as one week although it is recommended that patients do not go back to work for around two weeks to be on the safe side.

5. Patients experience very much less post-operative pain and what little pain there is requires only mild painkillers like codeine and paracetamol.

6. As commonly only 5 short incisions are made during this form of procedure the time that it takes to heal following surgery is considerably reduced, as is the possibility of infection and of the complications of a subsequent hernia.

Gastric bypass produces a significant improvement in the quality of life for patients and also has the further benefit of improving, or in many cases of curing, headache, venous status disease, arthritis, heartburn, diabetes and other disorders.

The fact that the procedure itself can now be done so much more easily and leave patients quite pain free and have them on their feet rapidly means that a growing number of people are likely to opt for gastric bypass surgery and enjoy a happier and healthier lifestyle.