How weight-loss surgery can avoid death

• Research finds bariatric surgery can reduce the risk of death in adults
• The study was published in journal JAMA
• The study was done by comparing two groups of people, one which had gone through the surgery and other which had not

Obese middle-aged men and women who undergo bariatric surgery for weight loss may have reduced their risk of death by 50 per cent than those tackling their weight through diet and behaviour alone, finds a study.

The rate of death in individuals who did not have surgery was 2.3 per cent compared to 1.3 per cent in those who had surgery, the findings showed.

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"We showed that a long-term effect of bariatric surgery is a longer life for obese patients. They had half the death rate, which is significant," said Philip Greenland, Professor at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Apart from weight loss, the surgery also lowered rates of new diabetes diagnoses, improved blood pressure, and a greater proportion of diabetic individuals going into remission.

For the study, published in the journal JAMA, the team compared 8,385 people who had the surgery (65 per cent women and 35 per cent men) to 25,155 who did not, with an average age of 46 with a body mass index (BMI) of 40.

"Bariatric surgery is an increasingly frequent treatment for severe obesity," added Laura Rasmussen-Torvik, Assistant Professor at the varsity.

However, there are various concerns about complications such as malabsorption of nutrients including vitamin deficiency, anemia and protein deficiency.

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"It's highly effective in promoting weight loss but also invasive and can lead to short- and long-term complications," Rasmussen-Torvik said. (IANS)