Bariatric Surgery Reduces Heart Disease And Stroke Risk Dramatically

Gastric band surgery is considerably more effective in preventing strokes and heart disease than medications, weight management, or a combination of the two, researchers from the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, reported in the BMJ journal Heart.

The authors wrote that bariatric surgery – restrictive gastric banding and other forms of gastric bypass – can dramatically reduce the risk factors associated with stroke and heart disease risk. They added that the drop in risk comes about surprisingly quickly.

Studies have shown that for patients with severe diabetes type 2, bariatric surgery is far more effective than standard therapy.

Medications and diabetes or weight management treatments are far less effective and much slower, when compared to bariatric surgery.

2.6 million people in the USA die prematurely because they are obese, the authors explained. Excess body fat produces harmful chemicals that mess up the gut’s hormonal balance, resulting in inflammation and insulin resistance – symptoms that mark the prelude to diabetes type 2.

The researchers gathered and examined data from studies dated between 1950 and 2012. They wanted to determine what the impact of bariatric surgery might be on heart failure, cardiovascular risk, and changes to the actual structure of the heart.

They eventually selected 73 studies to assess, involving nearly 20,000 individuals – all the studies looked at the effect bariatric surgery had on risk factors for stroke and heart disease.

Three-quarters of the study participants were female, and their average age was 42.

They found before surgery 44% of them had hypertension, 24% had diabetes, and 44% had dyslipidemia (high levels of harmful blood fats).

They were monitored for an average of 4.5 years post-surgery.

The patients lost an average of 54% of their excess weight; this varied from 16% to 87%.

4.5 years after their bariatric surgery, the researchers observed the following improvements in the patients’ health:

• Hypertension – 63% of them either had significant improvements or the condition resolved completely
• Diabetes – 73% either had significant improvements or the condition was resolved. Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical Center reported in June 2102 that in their study 67% of patients who underwent gastric bypass surgery were in complete remission for diabetes type 2 after one year.
• Dyslipidemia – 65% either had considerable improvements or the condition was resolved