Weight-reduction Surgery Might Lower Risk of Major Cardiovascular Event, Second Heart Attack among Obese Individuals, Study Suggests

Feb, 2021 - By SMI

According to a new study led by a group of researchers have suggested that obese individuals with BMI >35 and with past heart attack history who undergo weight-reduction surgery are at lower risk of heart failure, second heart attack, major cardiovascular event, including death, in comparison to people with similar health condition but without any weight-reduction surgery.

Erik Näslund, lead study from Karolinska Institutet stated, “It is well known that obesity is associated with an increased risk for Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. It has also been shown that weight-reduction surgery can improve Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. What has yet to be proven is: if you have had a heart attack, can weight-reduction surgery reduce your risk of having another heart attack, which was the focus of our study.”

In the study, the team of researchers evaluated the developments between weight-reduction surgery and subsequent cardiovascular event, heart attack in people with severe obesity with prior heart attack. Moreover, researchers compared 509 severely obese patients with prior heart attacks to 509 severely obese patients with same health condition but subsequently underwent weight-reduction surgery such as sleeve gastrectomy surgery or gastric bypass surgery. Furthermore, researchers collected data of the patients and made a follow-up for around eight years, and statistically evaluated variables, which affected risk for the patients with heart attacks, strokes or died during the follow-up period.

They observed that weight-reduction surgery diminished the risk of heart attack and new inception of heart failure. Moreover, weight-reduction surgery lowered the risk of death by 50% in patients with surgery, in comparison to patients without surgery. Researchers also informed that several patients with the surgery exhibited significant improvements in hypertension (22% remission), sleep apnea (67% remission), cholesterol and triglyceride levels (29 % remission), among others.