Patients who undergo weight loss surgery may have a better chance at dodging heart attacks and strokes, according to a new report.
Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic recently conducted a study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, to explore the association between bariatric surgery and heart-related diseases.
To do so, they examined more than 13,000 people who were obese and diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Of all the participants, about 2,000 of them had weight loss surgery, and the scientists followed both groups for about eight years.
After analyzing the results, they found those who had the weight loss procedure had a 39% lower risk of developing heart-related diseases. The surgery group also had a lower chance of having heart attacks, strokes, and other coronary artery events.
Furthermore, the team said those who had the surgery had a 41% decreased risk of an early death.
"There are very few therapies in treating heart disease that come close to having this big of an effect," co-author Steven Nissen said in a statement.
This isn’t the first time the surgery has been associated with other health benefits aside from weight loss.
In 2017, researchers from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine found patients who had undergone the surgery had a 33% lower risk of developing cancer, with the benefit greatest for obesity-related cancers.
And a 2014 study, published in New England Journal of Medicine, suggested bariatric surgery could put Type 2 diabetes into remission for good.
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