Weight-Loss Surgery Reduces Deaths From Obesity-Related Diseases :

Obese individuals who undergo bariatric surgery are less likely todie from heart disease, diabetes and cancer seven to 10 years after theprocedure compared with obese people who do not undergo surgery,according to two studies published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, USA Today reports (Hellmich, USA Today,8/25). The studies "offer the first convincing evidence that the healthgains of losing weight translate into living longer," according to the Washington Post .

In the first study, researchers led by Ted Adams of the University of Utah examined records from 7,925 severely obese individuals who hadundergone bariatric surgery and 7,925 severely obese individuals whohad not. Researchers found that after an average of seven years,patients who had had bariatric surgery were about 40% less likely tohave died. Surgery patients were 92% less likely to die from diabetesand 56% less likely to die of heart disease, according to the study(Stein, Washington Post, 8/23). Surgery patients were 60%less likely to die from cancer, which Adams attributed to "improvedquality of screening after weight loss" (Rosetta, Salt Lake Tribune , 8/23). In total, there were 213 deaths in the surgery group, compared with 321 in the control group (Bulkeley, Wall Street Journal, 8/23). The researchers estimated that the mortality rate declined by 136 per 10,000 operations (USA Today, 8/23).

In the second study, Lars Sjostrom of Goteborg University in Sweden and colleagues followed 2,010 obese bariatric surgerypatients and 2,037 obese individuals who did not undergo surgery. Thestudy found that over an 11-year period, bariatric surgery patientswere about 30% less likely on average to die from any cause (Washington Post, 8/23). In that study, there were 101 deaths in the surgery group and 129 deaths in the control group (USA Today, 8/23). The U.S. study was funded by NIH , the Utah Department of Health and the University of Utah. The Swedish study was funded bypharmaceutical companies and the Swedish Medical Research Council(Maugh, Los Angeles Times , 8/23). The companies do not have financial ties to bariatric surgery enterprises, according to the Boston Globe (Smith, Boston Globe, 8/23).

Other Findings

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