According to a new systematic review and meta-analysis published in the European Heart Journal, bariatric surgery can help obese patients reduce their risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. “Treatment of obesity is difficult and initially based on lifestyle change, diet, and increased physical activity,” wrote lead author Sophie L. van Veldhuisen, MD, of Rijnstate Hospital Arnhem in the Netherlands, and colleagues. “In most patients, achieving a sustained weight loss of 5-10% of total body weight is difficult, if not impossible.
” Obesity can be treated pharmacologically, but only a few drugs have been approved due to side effects and safety concerns. “Bariatric (or metabolic) surgery is a well-accepted treatment for patients with morbid obesity or severe obesity who also have obesity-related comorbidities.”
The authors of the study examined data from 39 different studies, totaling over 265,000 patients. While some of the studies were small, with cohorts of fewer than 200 patients, others included tens of thousands of obese patients. Any study required a minimum of five years of follow-up.
Overall, the study found that bariatric surgery reduced a patient’s risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, heart failure, myocardial infarction, and stroke. However, there was no significant reduction in the risk of atrial fibrillation. The team did point out that their analysis did not include any randomised controlled trials.
