Telogen Effluvium: Hair Loss After WLS (Weight Loss Surgery)
September 14, 2014 12:56 pm
Telogen Effluvium is the premature pushing of the hair root into a resting state and can be chronic or acute. It is usually brought on by a shock to your body such as high fevers, childbirth, severe infections, severe chronic illness, severe psychological stress, major surgery or illnesses, over or under active thyroid gland, crash diets with inadequate protein, and a variety of medications. Most hair loss from medications, is this type of hair loss, and the related medications include retinoids, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, antidepressants, and NSAIDS (including ibuprofen). Supplements that can also cause or increase telogen effluvium are higher doses of iron and Vitamin A.
The hair begins to fall out in differing amounts and can start weeks to months after the initial shock to the body or medication initiation. The hair loss can continue up to 6 weeks and typically slows at 8 weeks after the start of the hair loss.
Weight loss surgical patients experience this due to the stress of surgery and the low protein state directly after surgery. Although there is no specific treatment for Telogen Effluvium, there are steps that can be taken to potentially slow the hair loss and help support the new hair growth.
The most important steps to take are to maintain your protein supplementation at a minimum of 80-100 grams of protein daily and hydration (at least 64 ounces daily) after weight loss surgery.
Protein, particularly L-lysine, are the building blocks of hair and nails, without adequate protein your body will forgo making hair and nails to maintain critical muscle mass. Also hydration is important to flush the body of toxins, due to fat breakdown in the liver during the rapid weight loss phase, that will prevent further new hair growth.
Vitamin B6 and B12 deficits can also contribute to hair loss. Multivitamin supplementation is essential to maintaining the required levels of these vitamins. The recommended multivitamin supplementation is two multivitamins daily that are equivalent to Centrum brand multivitamin.
Some people add Zinc supplements to increase hair production. However, if you are adding Zinc it is advised to also add a Copper supplement as they compete with each other for absorption. Copper is important for red blood cell production and a copper deficiency can exacerbate iron deficiency anemia. Inactivity can also decrease zinc levels, therefore exercise/activity will naturally maintain zinc levels.
Biotin is also a B vitamin that can be helpful in new hair growth.
Folicure is a supplement tablet that contains many vitamins and minerals that some people find helpful for hair re-growth. They also manufacture a shampoo that can be used.
There are many shampoos and topical treatments that people use and report satisfaction in their results. However, it is important to note that a topical treatment may make your hair appear thicker but the hair regrowth will only be supported by internal nutritional maintenance. Minoxidil is a liquid vasodilator medication applied to the scalp that is the exception to this rule and can help with hair regrowth. However, Minoxidil will not work to it’s optimal level in the absence of adequate nutritional status.
We always go back to our basics after weight loss surgery of hydration, protein and exercise to maintain health of body and hair.
September 3, 2014 Group Meeting & Webinar Laboratory Studies and Vitamin K2Exclusive Member Content
September 06, 2014 8:03 pm
Nyctalopia (Night Blindness) An Early Sign of Vitamin A Deficiency with Video
September 04, 2014 3:08 pm
Nycalopia or Night Blindness is a side effect of Vitamin A deficeincy. Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin that occurs in animal tissue as retinol. There are a number of different provitamins in food of vegetable origin. Beta carotene and other carotenoids, yellow and red carotenoid pigments, can be changed to vitamin A in the liver.
A number of functions for vitamin A have been found, including immune mechanisms, maintenance of healthy epithelial tissues, facilitates the mobilization iron from stores to developing red blood cells, and most importantly, a function in the visual system. Vitamin A deficiency may manifest itself by: 1.) A scale-like appearance in the skin and occasional acne, 2.) A failure of growth in young animals, including C. station of skeletal growth, and 3.) A failure of reproduction associated with atrophy of the epithelial cells of the testes and interruption of the female sexual cycle. Zinc works with Vitamin A by converting retinol to retinal and also protects from toxicity of Vitamin A. Vitamin A deficiency can worsen Iron Deficiency Anemia. It has been shown that treatment for Iron Deficiency Anemia responds better when Vitamin A and Iron are supplemented together.
Vitamin A deficiency may also represent a decreased visual acuity, more specifically, night blindness. Night Blindness was found in a patient who reported that they were unable to read a particular sign at night while driving, but was able to read it during the day. The body uses Vitamin A to make retinal, part of a molecule called rhodopsin. Rhodopsin is found in the rods of the eye. The rods are the cells of the retina that allow you to see in low light conditions. Here is a video of a patient exhibiting the effect of night blindness.
If Vitamin A deficiency is left untreated at the stage of night blindness it can progress to Xerophthalmia. Xerophthalmia is also caused by Vitamin A deficiency. The symptoms of Xerophthalmia is lack of tear production which are the lubrication of the eye. This leads to corneal and conjunctiva inflammation and thickening. The cornea can become cloudy and foamy spots (Bitot’s spots) leading to scarring and damage that effect the sight.
When a patient is diagnosed with vitamin A deficiency, the treatment will require aggressive oral supplementation. Duodenal Switch patients will only respond to “Dry” water miscible form of Vitamin A, which is pictured below/right. This “Dry” water miscible form is a powder which is designed to dissolve in water without the addition of bile for absorption. When taking oral vitamin A, it is important for patients who have had the Duodenal Switch operation to specifically look for a “Dry” water miscible form of vitamin A. This is to maximize the amount of vitamin A that can be absorbed even in the presence of reduced fat absorption.
For cases in which vitamin A levels do not respond to “Dry” water miscible Vitamin A oral supplementation, intramuscular injections may be required. The usual injected dosage of vitamin A is between 25,000-50,000 international units. Repeated injections in a 3-month interval have been required in some patients to normalize the vitamin A level, as well as resolving the symptom of night blindness.
Orthostatic Hypotension/Intolerance
August 26, 2014 4:02 pm
One of the possible side effects of rapid weight loss after undergoing weight loss surgery is orthostatic hypotension or orthostatic intolerance. These terms describe a significant drop in blood pressure upon standing from a seated or reclined position. Drip in blood pressure causes a decrease in blood flow to the brain. There are several studies discussing this after RNY gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy. However, this can also be an issue post Duodenal Switch. The process is still not completely understood but can be due to several factors. Rapid weight loss, sympathetic nervous system dysfunction, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, malnutrition, thyroid issues, cardiac issues, post prandial hypotension (blood pressure lowering after meals due to blood flow shifting to the gut) or medications are all suspected as possible causefor orthostatic hypotension.
Symptoms can include dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea, blurry vision, weakness, fatigue, palpitations, headache, exercise intolerance, intermittent confusion and can culminate to passing out. This can be diagnoses with blood pressure monitoring while positioning change, ECG, laboratory studies, echocardiogram, tilt table test and possibly Valsalva maneuver.
There is a direct link between obesity and hypertension. A large number of patients undergoing weight loss surgery are on anti-hypertension medications. Patients need to be followed closely in the hospital and in the rapid weight loss phase post surgery for medication changes and eventually termination of anti-hypertensive medications. Follow up and monitoring with a primary care physician is crucial due to these rapid changes.
Dehydration, anemia, and low protein intake need close surveillance after weight loss surgery. The patient may require laboratory studies to investigate these causes.
Treatments may include increasing hydration, protein intake, changing medications and treating anemia. Also, allowing time for the body to adjust to the rapid weight loss if all the underlying issues are within normal limits. If symptoms persist, after all underlying issues are investigated, the patient will need to be diligent with hydration, protein intake, supplements and other treatments. Things that may also help is to slow down in moving from one position to the other, take a moment to adjust to your new position. Compression stocking and increasing salt intake can also help if all other causes are investigated. Post prandial hypotension can be avoided with low carbohydrate and small meals. Also, moderately increasing salt intake can improve symptoms.
Vitamin D Metabolism, Deficiency and Treatment
August 23, 2014 4:17 am
Vitamin D and Weight Loss Surgery
“Mission Statement” (moved)
August 20, 2014 3:38 am
Bowel Obstruction After DS
August 20, 2014 12:47 am
One of the potential complications of any abdominal surgery is Bowel Obstruction. If the treating physician (usually the primary care, or the emergency room doctor) is not absolutely clear of the anatomy of a patent post duodenal Switch or the Gastric bypass surgeries this will pose a diagnostic dilemma. In intact anatomy the GI tract start at the mouth and ends up at the rectum as a long tube. After the Duodenal Switch the small bowel has two parallel limbs, the alimentary limb brings the food down from the stomach, and the biliopancreatic limb brings down the biliopancreatic secretions. These two limbs join and form the common channel.
In normal anatomy, bowel obstruction may present with nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, inability to pass gas, and/or have bowel movements. In this case, the X-ray will also show dilated loops of bowel and if oral contrast is given with the X-ray, there will be no contrast past the obstruction. Think of it as a garden hose that has been kinked and no water is going thru.
In this upper GI- the contrast travels down the small bowel and the entire small bowel is the same caliber. This is normal study with no evidence of obstruction. In a patient with the DS, the patient my have the biliopancreaitc limb obstruction, with an identical X-ray as above, since the oral contrast given will never get to the biliopancreatic limb and it will not show if it is dilated or not.
In duodenal switch operation, a patient may have complete obstruction of the alimentary limb, with nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, and yet have bowel movements because the content of the biliopancreatic limb is getting to the common channel. Similarly, a patient with biliopancreatic limb may have nausea, but no vomiting, because the obstructed biliopancreatic limb is not connected to the stomach and the content can’t not be expelled from the stomach.
It is critical to make sure that a patient with a suspected bowel obstruction after the DS, is evaluated with the understanding that the common signs and symptoms, and the diagnostic workup will not provide an accurate picture. A patient with the DS or RNY, can have bowel obstruction and still have bowel movement, and no vomiting.
A patient with suspected bowel obstruction should have CT scan of the Abdomen with oral and IV contrast. The cardinal findings will be “dilated loops of bowel with no contrast within the lumen of the bowel”. This is highly suspicious for bowel obstruction after DS, where the regular x ray will not pick this up. Additionally, abnormal liver function test may suggest biliopancreatic limb obstruction.
Bowel Obstruction After Duodenal Switch
August 19, 2014 4:47 pm
One of the potential complications of any abdominal surgery is Bowel Obstruction. If the treating physician (usually the primary care, or the emergency room doctor) is not absolutely clear of the anatomy of a patent post duodenal Switch or the Gastric bypass surgeries this will pose a diagnostic dilemma. In intact anatomy the GI tract start at the mouth and ends up at the rectum as a long tube. After the Duodenal Switch the small bowel has two parallel limbs, the alimentary limb brings the food down from the stomach, and the biliopancreatic limb brings down the biliopancreatic secretions. These two limbs join and form the common channel.
In normal anatomy, bowel obstruction may present with nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, inability to pass gas, and/or have bowel movements. In this case, the X-ray will also show dilated loops of bowel and if oral contrast is given with the X-ray, there will be no contrast past the obstruction. Think of it as a garden hose that has been kinked and no water is going thru.
In this upper GI- the contrast travels down the small bowel and the entire small bowel is the same caliber. This is normal study with no evidence of obstruction. In a patient with the DS, the patient my have the biliopancreaitc limb obstruction, with an identical X-ray as above, since the oral contrast given will never get to the biliopancreatic limb and it will not show if it is dilated or not.
In duodenal switch operation, a patient may have complete obstruction of the alimentary limb, with nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, and yet have bowel movements because the content of the biliopancreatic limb is getting to the common channel. Similarly, a patient with biliopancreatic limb may have nausea, but no vomiting, because the obstructed biliopancreatic limb is not connected to the stomach and the content can’t not be expelled from the stomach.
The images of fluid filled loops of bowel are highly suspicious.
It is critical to make sure that a patient with a suspected bowel obstruction after the DS, is evaluated with the understanding that the common signs and symptoms, and the diagnostic workup will not provide an accurate picture. A patient with the DS or RNY, can have bowel obstruction and still have bowel movement, and no vomiting.
A patient with suspected bowel obstruction should have CT scan of the Abdomen with oral and IV contrast. The cardinal findings will be “dilated loops of bowel with no contrast within the lumen of the bowel”. This is highly suspicious for bowel obstruction after DS, where the regular x ray will not pick this up. Additionally, abnormal liver function test may suggest biliopancreatic limb obstruction.
Patch or Spray Vitamins
August 15, 2014 10:37 pm
At the last group meeting, there were several questions whether vitamin D and other vitamins would be absorbed via patch (transdermal) and spray (buccal/sublingual) routes. After reviewing several resources, the only article I could find was for transdermal Vitamin D absorption. However, if we look at the mechanism for each route we can make an educated assumption.
Transdermal route of absorption (without additional absorption enhancers) (ref) requires a molecular mass less than 500 g/mole, high lipophilicity (affinity to fat or lipids), and low required daily dose (less than 2mg). The fat-soluble vitamins are definitely lipophilic, all of them have molecular weights less than 500 g/mole and daily dose is under 2mg. It seems that hydrophilic medications (that have an affinity to water) may have less ability to be absorbed with this route unless a chemical enhancer is added to the product. Most vitamins and minerals have lower molecular weights except Vitamin B12 which has too high of a molecular weight unless an enhancer is added. The transdermal route has slower absorption than buccal (oral mucosa) but faster than usual tablet oral route. The down side to transdermal route is possible skin issues due to medication, adhesives, and also different rates of absorption due to skin thickness and condition.
Buccal/sublingual route of absorption is dependent on lipid solubility, oil to water partition coeffincient, saliva pH, small to moderate molecular weight, and oral mucosa thickness. The mechanism of action is osmosis, which means items that readily dissolve in water are easily absorbed. Unlike orally ingested medicates, that take time to absorb and need to be filtered and/or processed in the liver, sublingual route is fast absorbing and the liver is bypassed. The down side to this route is it disrupts eating and drinking and is not efficient with smoking due to vasoconstriction.
An e-mail was sent to the companies inquiring about the outcomes of their products with people with malabsorption issues. No response was received from the spray vitamin companies.A request was also sent to obtain any research articles they may have but a response has not been received at this time. The following is the response I received from the maker of Patch MD.
“I am the president and founder of Patch MD. We design Patch MD to help people that have digestive issues and malabsorption. Our whole premise is to avoid the digestive track, by doing so we avoid dealing with conditions such as short bowel syndrome, acid reflux, and bariatric surgery to name a few. People also with Crohn’s disease and iliac disease are challenged with digestion and absorption every day of their life. Our patches are designed specifically to pass nutrition through the skin into the bloodstream. We get letters every day from people that have had bariatric surgery and were unable to get vitamin D, calcium, the B’s and Vitamin A and K, our product works because we use the skin as our delivery system, absorption is through the skin, avoiding all digestive potential issues. The only problem that we may have is we tell our customers to use no lotions or cream in the patch application area, as you may understand it will prevent absorption. We are going to be at a national convention this weekend in Manhattan Beach California to take part and display our products at the ObesityHelp conference. They ask us to take part as they were getting great reviews from their members that are using the patch. All were improving their blood work after taking Patch MD patches.”
Earl Hailey, President Patch MD
In light of the review of data, it would seem that the transdermal route would be beneficial to people who are having issues maintaining blood levels of fat-soluble vitamin levels. The other vitamins also have a good prospect of absorption via transdermal route. Buccal or sublingual (sprays) would seem to have a better outcome for water-soluble vitamins unless there is an additive added to the product to increase the solubility of the fat-soluble vitamins and make them water miscible. We must realize that there is no data for Duodenal Switch patients and very little data regarding these routes of absorption with vitamins specifically. If you are going to try these types of vitamins you should be extremely diligent in following your laboratory studies for vitamin levels with greater frequency until it is determined they are maintaining your blood levels.
Also, it should be noted that water miscible (dry) Vitamin A, D, E, K are the only type of these vitamins a DS patients should be taking. Over the counter Vitamin A, D, E, K are fat-soluble and due to the fat malabsorption after DS these type of vitamins are not appropriate to maintain blood levels. Water miscible (dry) vitamins should NOT be taken with fatty or oily foods and should also be taken 30 minutes prior or 30 minutes after eating. The water miscibility makes them water soluble and therefore will not have optimal absorption if taken with fat. Fat also increases the rate of digestion through the small bowel after DS and decreases the amount of time the vitamin has in the bowel and therefore, decreases absorption. They are best absorbed when taken on their own.
The good news patches and spray routes of administering medications and supplements is an up and coming area of research. There are several ongoing research studies and new developments on the horizon for increasing absorbability of transdermal route with different types of additives and techniques.
Mission Statement
August 14, 2014 1:15 pm
Mission Statement for Central Valley Bariatrics and Dr. Ara Keshishian “The best patient that I can have is the most knowledgeable patient”
This is one of the “lines” that I use during my teaching and consultations sessions. I firmly believe that a patients should have all the pertinent information before they decide to proceed with a treatment plan. Be the treatment is medical in nature or surgical the patient needs to have all the scientific facts before an informed decision is made.
Part of my duty is to provide the information in a scientific and concise fashion in non-medical terms. Additional resources, such as this blog, FB group (The one managed by our office, and those maintained by others) along with the Webinar hosted by us, all serve to complement each other for providing a forum for exchange of information.
The value of information exchanged between patients can not be underestimated. Patients who have walked the path can provide a much more practical experience that I can ever share with a patient. The information shared between patient can and should carry a wider range of topics. It is to be noted however, that no information exchanged between patients should replace the advice of a patients’ surgeon.
For most of us that offer weight loss surgery, we realize that there is a lot more to the care of our patients that just to “cut” and hope for the best! The best outcome is dependent as much on the follow up care as it is to the surgery itself.
I personally believe that the care should be compassionate, respectful, caring and professional. There is no reason why the advice given should include disrespectful, or otherwise demeaning comments, suggestions or innuendoes. These have always been the guiding principals based on which we will conduct our practice on the Facebook, our blog and in person. No one, be patients, my office staff or myself should tolerate any personal threats, foul language or disrespect. For those who may see values to demeaning and inflammatory discussion tones, I wish you the best in other venues.
Ara