Bariatric Surgery Is Effective Long-Term

Because of its effectiveness, bariatric surgery continues to be used in the fight against obesity. But while bariatric surgery does generally lead to weight loss, there has been some question as to whether obese patients who have the surgery will be healthier long-term. At least two studies demonstrate the long-term effectiveness of bariatric surgery.

A 2005 Swedish study tried to answer the above question to some extent. For example, the study went a long way toward answering the following question:  Does bariatric surgery decrease mortality? The study went a long way, because based on the study results, the answer is "yes." In fact, according to the study, bariatric surgery reduces the mortality of obese patients when the mortality of weight loss surgery patients was compared to the mortality of patients who experienced non-surgical weight loss treatments.

Investigators in the Swedish study looked at 4047 obese patients. Approximately half of the patients underwent bariatric surgery, and the other half used non-surgical methods to lose weight. At the end of ten years, there were 129 deaths in the non-bariatric surgery group and 101 deaths in the bariatric surgery group.

And a more recent study concludes that bariatric surgery can lower the risks of type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure in the future. The study looked at 1,100 adults who were severely obese. The investigators "found that those who underwent gastric bypass lost an average of 100 pounds over two years. By year 12, they'd managed to keep 77 of those pounds off." Further, the investigators concluded that "surgery patients had a much lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes -- 92 percent lower, versus obese patients who did not have surgery."

So, the above studies indicate that bariatric surgery, indeed, is effective long-term. These studies should be of interest to surgical and non-surgical weight loss providers. Drawing from these studies, providers can feel more confident when counseling patients on the pros and cons of bariatric surgery. 

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Young Adult Obesity Is Worth Addressing

Today, childhood obesity gets a lot of attention in the press, and a lot of research is devoted to the condition. Childhood obesity gets a lot of research and attention because the disease leads to an array of diseases in childhood and in adulthood. So childhood obesity deserves the attention and research it is getting. However, there is another group deserving of attention and research. The group is the young adults who are obese.

It is pretty much agreed that people who are obese during childhood are likely to be obese during adulthood. Further, there is large agreement that children who are obese may suffer from some of the same ailments as adults, such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Because of the negative effects of obesity during childhood and later in life, reducing childhood obesity deserves a lot of research.  But in many ways, the effects of obesity on young adults are similar to the effects of obesity on children and adolescents. Young adults between the ages of 20 and 39 are confronted with the same obesity issues as obese children and obese adolescents.

According to a study done at George Washington University, “the prevalence of obesity roughly doubles between pre-adolescents (17% among 6 to 11 year old children) and young adulthood (34% among 20 to 39-year-old adults).” Therefore, there is a very high obesity rate among this young adult age group. And that is important because many life events occur during this period including marriage, first-time job, starting a family and divorce. And obesity impacts all of these events.

And just as in the case of childhood obesity, many comorbidities are associated with the obesity experienced by a large percentage of young adults. So addressing obesity in young adults could lower healthcare costs. And again, as with childhood obesity, adult obesity increases the risk of obesity later in life. So young adulthood obesity is worthy of attention.

Healthcare providers should address overweight and obesity when it occurs in their young adult patients. This can make the young adults healthier while they’re still young, and lower the risk of poor health in the later years.

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