Podcasts & RSS Feeds Shots - Health Blog Tue January 3, 2012
Study: Weight-Loss Surgery Can Cut Deaths From Heart Attacks,
Strokes Most patients who undergo bariatric surgery lose weight
and experience other health benefits. They have less heart
disease, diabetes and cancer than their obese counterparts who
don't have the surgery. Now, researchers from the University of
Gothenburg in Sweden find bariatric surgery also reduces deaths
from cardiovascular causes, such as heart attacks and strokes.
In the study, more than 2,000 middle-aged obese people underwent
surgery. They were then compared with an equal number of similar
people who didn't have surgery and received healthcare as usual.
The study appears in the latest issue of JAMA, the Journal of
the American Medical Association. The researchers checked the
health and body weight of the participants at 2, 10, 15 and 20
years. Over the years, patients who had surgery lost and kept
off between 16 and 23 percent of their original body weight.
Patients who didn't