Weight loss surgery does not lower death risk

A new study by U.S. researchers has found that weight loss surgery does not decrease the risk of death in middle-aged men, at least not during the first seven years.

The study was led by Matthew Maciejewski from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, N.C.

Obesity surgery not equally beneficial for all
The study found that not all gain equally from the weight loss surgery or the benefits of the surgery are visible after more years of following up the patients.

The researchers followed the male veterans and came to the conclusion that the organ damage due to obesity might have gone too far to be reversed by the weight loss surgery.

The study, which was released on Sunday, will appear in this week’s journal of 'American Medical Association'.

Details of the study
The researchers examined 850 veterans at the Veteran Affairs medical centers, who have undergone a bariatric (weight loss) surgery between the period of January, 2000 and December, 2006.

The average age of the participants was 49.5 and the average body mass index (BMI) was 47.4. A BMI over 40 is considered as ‘extremely obese’.

The death rate of this group was compared with another group of 41,000 Veteran Affairs patients, who did not have the surgery. They had an average BMI of 42 and average age of 54.7.

The study found that 11 out of the 850 patients of the first group died within a week of the surgery.

The unadjusted analysis of the death rate for a period of six years in both the groups showed that the group that had the surgery had a lower death rate, but after further analysis the researchers found that the weight loss surgery did not had a significant impact in reducing the death rate.

The researchers, however, added that though the weight loss surgery did not reduce the chances of death, it did improve the quality of life of the patients by reducing weight and problems related with obesity.