Bariatric News at NWH
Weight-loss surgery may lower heart attack, stroke risk
Obese people who decide to undergo stomach surgery to speed weight loss may lower their risk of having -- and dying from -- a heart attack or stroke, according to new research.
Swedish researchers followed 4,047 very obese men and women for an average of 15 years. Roughly half of the participants opted to have weight-loss surgery (also known as bariatric surgery) at the beginning of the study, and those who did were 33% less likely than those who skipped surgery to have a heart attack or stroke. They were also 53% less likely to die from one.
After 15 years, the people who underwent surgery had lost 16% of their initial body weight, on average, while those who didn't have surgery maintained roughly the same weight.
Surprisingly, though, the amount of weight loss among the surgery patients was not associated with the risk of heart attack, stroke, or death.
Mitchell Roslin, M.D. says the new study is notable because it tracked heart attacks and strokes over a long period of time, not just reductions in heart-disease risk factors such as cholesterol or blood pressure.
