Weight Loss Surgery might result to better mobility

A new study suggests that obese patients would benefit more from weight loss surgery compared to the usual method, which is a combination of exercise and diet. It turns out that that first one has better result that the later method.

The research was conducted for more than 2,200 obese patients who underwent weight-loss surgery. One year after the procedure, 58 per cent of them reported less pain and 77 per cent said they can function better than before.

By three years, around 49% percent was still feeling less pain and 70% found out that their body is functioning better. The rates have drop, but it is still clear that weight loss surgery is that effective. The patients were walking better than before since the surgery and those with knee and hip problem are seeing better results in moving and feeling less pain.

The study concludes that though those people who underwent surgery might see better results than the people, who exercise and do diets. Sadly not all, who underwent surgery, will get the same results as the other patients, who have undergone the same treatment, as noted by lead study author Wendy King, a public-health researcher at the University of Pittsburgh.

In an email, King concluded that the amount that each individual weight lost after the surgery has nothing to do with the type of surgery. Rather it has something to do with “consistently related to improvements in pain and function.”

Obesity is a worldwide problem, wherein around 1.9 billion adults are overweight or obese, as noted by the World Health Organization. Obesity is a major problem since it increases the health risk of known diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, joint disorders and certain cancers.

Surgical weight loss is one of the best ways to deal with it and has gain popularity over the years, but it doesn’t mean that it would solve your problem and won’t be risk-free. The rate of success won’t be perfect and there would be some risk. One problem that you might encounter is that you might become malnourished. According to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) around 180,000 people undergo such procedure in the US, but the results are not great.

King and her colleagues concluded that those who have a higher chance to reduce their weight from surgery are those who are young, men, wealthier and less obese people. These people would likely to see results in improvements in pain and mobility at one and three years after surgery.

The author noted that the study doesn’t say that weight-loss surgery directly causes reductions in pain or increases in mobility.

Source: The Globe and Mail