CHICAGO, Ill. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Forty one percent of the US is considered obese and those who are obese are at increased risk for more than 60 chronic diseases. Now new research shows weight loss surgery may not only help people lose weight, but decrease their risk of diabetes, stroke and cancer.
Emily Peterson says, “All I wanted from the time that I was a little girl, I mean probably as young as 5, 6, 7 years old, I just so wanted to be skinny. I have just a lifetime of little horror stories.” She tried basically every diet available, underwent a failed lap band surgery, and then, last year, had bariatric surgery.
Philip Omotosho, MD, Gastrointestinal Surgeon at Rush University Medical Center says, “There’s a whole list of things that bariatric surgery makes better.” He was part of a team to study almost 29 thousand morbidly obese patients. They found that gastric bypass surgery significantly reduced the risk of all cancers, including uterine, colorectal and lung—some by more than 50 percent.
Doctor Omotosho says, “The insulin resistance improves after bariatric surgery and we know that insulin resistance and growth factors have been actually implicated in some of these cancer pathways.”
Another study done by Doctor Omotosho found bariatric surgery lowered the risk of Ischemic stroke. And 52 percent of the gastric bypass patients had complete remission of their type two diabetes. None of the patients who did not have surgery saw a remission of their diabetes.
Before bypass, Peterson was told she was prediabetic. One year later, she has changed that trajectory and lost 105 pounds.
Peterson says, “I’m smaller now than I was in junior high school. So, this is all completely uncharted territory. I’ve never been this size in my life, let alone as an adult.”
Smaller and a whole lot healthier!
As of 2017, all 50 states have obesity rates over 20 percent. Two decades ago, no state had a rate above 15 percent. And as rates rise, you can expect health care costs to rise as well. In fact, obesity costs Americans 147 billion dollars each year. People who are obese pay almost 15-hundred dollars more out of pocket for healthcare than people who are not. A reminder: bariatric surgery, like any surgery, carries its own risks that need to be discussed with your doctor.
Contributors to this news report include: Marsha Lewis, Producer; Roque Correa, Editor and Videographer
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34183506/
https://www.soard.org/article/S1550-7289(21)00442-1/pdf
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26599565/
https://www.healthline.com/health/obesity-facts#6.-Obesity-causes-more-deaths-than-being-underweight
WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY: SAVING LIVES FROM DIABETES, STROKE & CANCER
REPORT #2997
BACKGROUND: Obesity is a huge problem in the world today, the US obesity prevalence was at 41.9 percent from 2017 to March of 2020, the obesity prevalence was 39.8% among adults in the age range of 20 to 39 years old and was higher in adults over the age of 40. Being obese can lead to a higher risk of getting thirteen different types of cancer, and these cancers make up forty percent of all cancer diagnosis in the USA each year. Some of these cancers include breast, thyroid, colon, kidney and liver. The most important steps you can take to lower your risk of cancer is avoiding tobacco use and keeping a healthy weight. Being overweight can cause changes in the body such as long-lasting inflammation and even higher than normal levels of insulin. Health care providers can help their patients stay a healthy weight by taking their weight, height and BMI, explaining how it can lower their cancer risk and helping them connect with people in the community that provide healthy foods and ways to stay active. More than 684,000 obesity-associated cancers occur in the US each year and more than 210,000 are in men while 470,000 are in women.
(Source: https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/obesity/index.htm)
THE SURGERY: Collectively, Gastric bypass and other weight-loss surgeries are known as bariatric surgery and they can help people lose weight by making changes to their digestive system. The surgery is typically performed when diet and exercise have not worked, or you have serious health problems because of your weight. Weight loss surgery offers many different benefits but with any major procedure it can pose serious risks and side effects. You also must make permanent changes to your diet by eating health and exercising to get the full long-term success of the surgery. Some of the major side effects include the possibility of blood clots, leaks in the gastrointestinal system, excessive bleeding, and infections. Gastric bypass isn’t for everyone who is severely overweight. You need to meet certain medical guidelines and will likely have an extensive screening process to see if you qualify. You also may be required to partake in long-term follow-up plans that include monitoring your nutrition and behavior, as well as lifestyle and medical conditions. Most weight loss surgeries are performed laparoscopically.
(Source: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/bariatric-surgery/about/pac-20394258)
NEW REGULATIONS: While losing weight and gastric bypass surgery may reduce your chances of getting some cancers, there is still limited research on the topic. However, body changes from weight loss may play a big role in reducing the risk for cancer. An example is an overweight or obese person who intentionally loses weight will have a reduction in certain hormone levels that is related to cancer, like insulin, estrogen, and androgens. While there is still lots to learn, there are other health benefits of weight loss: lowering the risk of diabetes and heart disease.
* For More Information, Contact: Charlie Jolie
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