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Obesity gastric bypass surgery lead to a vitamin deficiency - Wernicke encephalopathy
Obesity :: Obesity gastric bypass surgery lead to a vitamin deficiency - Wernicke encephalopathy
Weight loss surgery, such as gastric bypass surgery, can lead to a vitamin deficiency that can cause memory loss and confusion, inability to coordinate movement, and other problems leading to Wernicke encephalopathy.
Wernicke encephalopathy is caused by a deficiency of thiamine and is often associated with severe alcoholism or chronic malnutrition. In obesity surgery patients, it can develop when patients stop taking their vitamin supplements, or when frequent vomiting prevents the vitamins from being absorbed. Vomiting can also occur after the surgery either as a complication of the procedure or if patients eat more than their stomachs can hold ? the surgery reduces the organ to the size of an egg.
Because little information is available on Wernicke encephalopathy after bariatric surgery, the researchers conducted a review of medical literature to learn when it occurs, risk factors and symptoms. Their report is published in the March 13th issue of Neurology, a journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
A gastric bypass is a surgical procedure that creates a very small stomach; the rest of the stomach is removed. The small intestine is attached to the new stomach, allowing the lower part of the stomach to be bypassed. Gastric bypass surgery is intended to treat obesity, a condition characterized by an increase in body weight beyond the skeletal and physical requirements of a person, resulting in excessive weight gain.
It is important for obesity surgery patients to take their prescribed vitamin supplements and to be alert for symptoms such as vomiting, confusion, lack of coordination and visual changes -- signs of a serious neurological condition that can develop after the surgery.
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