Newswise – WASHINGTON –Bariatric surgery can result in significant cardiometabolic improvements, particularly in younger, female or white people and those without comorbidities, according to a new study published in the journal Journal of the Endocrine Society.
The United States has the highest obesity rates in the world. In 2017-2018 approximately 40% of US adults had obesity and 9% had severe obesity. The prevalence is particularly high among black adults. Bariatric surgery is a method that helps people who are severely overweight lose a lot of weight and improve their health.
“Our study shows that bariatric surgery not only results in significant weight loss, but also significantly improves heart health,” said study author Lei Wang, M.Phil., of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. “These health benefits include lower blood pressure, blood lipids and blood sugar, and an estimated 35% reduction in the 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease one year after surgery.”
“In addition, 30 to 50% of participants in our study experienced remissions of diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia,” added co-author Danxia Yu, Ph.D., of Vanderbilt University Medical Center. “Individuals who were younger, female, self-identified as white, and had no history of cardiometabolic disease tended to show greater cardiometabolic improvements after surgery.”
Researchers analyzed over 7,800 people between the ages of 20 and 79 who underwent bariatric surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center between 1999 and 2022. Most study participants were women and white, but the study also included a significant number of male patients and Black patients, who are underrepresented in bariatric surgery research.
Researchers evaluated various cardiometabolic improvements, including blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose and HbA1c. They also measured remission rates of diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia, as well as the estimated 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease.
Older, male or black patients had a smaller reduction in 10-year risk of heart disease and a lower likelihood of remission of diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia than younger, female or white patients. Patients with a history of diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, or cardiovascular disease showed less cardiometabolic improvement than those without.
“Our findings can help people with severe obesity achieve better health outcomes and help us identify which patients may need additional health care after surgery,” Wang said.
Additional study authors include Xiao-Ou Shu, You Chen, Brandon Williams, Matthew Spann, Charles Flynn and Wayne English of Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Michael O’Brien and Xinmeng Zhang of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee; and Vance Albaugh of the Metamor Institute, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, in Baton Rouge, La.
The study was funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
The manuscript, “Cardiometabolic improvements after metabolic surgery and associated preoperative factors” was published online.
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