Weight-Loss Surgery May Extend Lives, Study Finds

Results applied to older men and women, even with other health problems

By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Jan. 6, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Weight-loss surgery appears to prolong life for severely obese adults, a new study of U.S. veterans finds.

Among 2,500 obese adults who underwent so-called bariatric surgery, the death rate was about 14 percent after 10 years compared with almost 24 percent for obese patients who didn't have weight-loss surgery, researchers found.

"Patients with severe obesity can have greater confidence that bariatric surgical procedures are associated with better long-term survival than not having surgery," said lead researcher Dr. David Arterburn, an associate investigator with the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle.

Earlier studies have shown better survival among younger obese women who had weight-loss surgery, but this study confirms this finding in older men and women who suffer from other health problems, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, he said.

The findings were published Jan. 6 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"We were not able to determine in our study the reasons why veterans lived longer after surgery than they did without surgery," Arterburn said. "However, other research suggests that bariatric surgery reduces the risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer, which may be the main ways that surgery prolongs life."

Dr. John Lipham, chief of upper gastrointestinal and general surgery at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, said that patients who have weight-loss surgery usually see their diabetes disappear.

"This by itself is going to provide a survival benefit," he said. Shedding excess weight also lowers blood pressure and cholesterol levels and reduces the odds of developing heart disease, he said.

"If you are obese and unable to lose weight on your own, bariatric surgery should be considered," Lipham said.

Arterburn said most insurance plans including Medicare cover bariatric surgery.

As with any surgery, however, weight-loss surgery carries some risks. "The main risk from surgery is the risk of dying from a major complication such as bleeding or infection, which typically occurs in less than 0.3 percent of patients," Arterburn said.

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