DOC News April 1, 2005
Volume 2 Number 4 p. 14
© 2005 American Diabetes Association
Benefits of Bariatric Surgery Persist Over Long Term
The number of bariatric surgery procedures in the U.S. has risen
dramatically, growing fivefold in the last 7 years. Yet little is known about
the long-term effects of bariatric surgery.
A group of researchers recently reported on participants in the Swedish
Obese Subjects Study, including 3,505 people who were followed for at least 2
years and 1,268 who were followed for 10 years. An earlier study of the same
population found no increased risk of death among bariatric surgery patients.
For this more recent study, 641 subjects who underwent bariatric
surgery—gastric banding, gastric bypass, or vertical-banded
gastroplasty—were compared with 627 matched control subjects who did not
have surgery.
Bariatric surgery patients lost an average of 23% of body weight at 2 years
and 16% at 10 years, while control subjects gained weight. Among the various
surgical procedures, gastric bypass resulted in the greatest weight loss.
At the end of 10 years, those who had bariatric surgery were less likely to
have type 2 diabetes, hypertension, high triglycerides, or high levels of uric
acid. No difference was seen in cholesterol levels between the two groups.
Many of the improvements among surgical patients were observed within the
first 2 years of follow-up, according to researchers.
Bariatric surgery is a viable treatment that results in long-term weight
loss, the authors conclude.
Sjostrom L, Lindroos AK, Peltonen M, et al.: Lifestyle,
diabetes, and cardiovascular risk factors 10 years after bariatric surgery.
New Engl J Med 351:2683–2693, 2004.
CiteULike 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
