Physical Wellness

Weight Loss Surgery Decreases Likelihood Of Getting Diabetes And Heart Attack

By Jenn Loro | Update Date: Dec 23, 2015 09:49 AM EST

A UK-led study showed that bariatric surgery commonly referred to as weight loss surgery dramatically reduces the risk of getting Type 2 diabetes and a number of heart-related conditions.

The comprehensive research involving nearly 4, 000 patients in almost 4 years found out that about 1.4 million Brits were found to be obese as per National Health Service (NHS) records.

The study also suggested that offering weight loss surgery to people with morbid cases of obesity could cut down 80, 000 cases of hypertension, 40, 000 cases of Type 2 diabetes, and avert 5, 000 cases of heart attacks in four years according to The Telegraph.

Furthermore, about 110,000 people already diagnosed with diabetes and another 13,000 people with high blood pressure would also benefit from this surgical procedure.

The longitudinal research also triggers a public discussion on expanding the access of bariatric surgery to the wider population with alarming cases of obesity.

"Obesity is one of the biggest health problems of our generation. Rates of cardiovascular disease, although slowly declining, are still alarmingly high while type 2 diabetes is on the rise, affecting 3.5m people in Britain. Finding effective ways to tackle the obesity crisis is therefore a key public health strategy," told Dr Ian Douglas of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine as quoted saying by Express.

Bariatric surgery is deemed as the final resort to treating extreme cases of obesity when everything else fails. The usual candidates for this type of surgery are those people categorized as 'dangerously obese' with body mass index (BMI) of 35 and above as mentioned by BBC based on NHS guidelines.

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