A Daily Mail article detailed the findings of a study on bariatric surgery. The results are extremely encouraging:
Weight loss surgery may reverse the effects of aging, new research suggests.
After the surgery some patients’ telomeres – genetic biomarkers that play a role in the aging of cells – lengthened, suggesting the aging process had been reversed.
Usually telomeres become shorter as a person gets older.
‘Obesity has an adverse effect on health, causes premature aging and reduces life expectancy,’
said study co-author Dr John Morton, Chief of Bariatric Surgery at Stanford University Medical Centre.
‘This is the first study to show that surgical weight loss may be able to reverse the effects.’
He added: ‘If your telomeres get longer, you’re likely to reverse the effects of aging and have a lower risk of developing a wide range of age-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart and respiratory diseases, and certain types of cancer.’
The article went on to disclose that bariatric surgery can also decrease the risk of diabetes and other obesity-associated diseases. Such findings are sure to have good implications for bariatric surgery in Mexico and other countries.
Bariatric surgery is a medical procedure implemented on a person’s gastric system; it aims to change the dynamics of the body’s energy balance and fat metabolism. There are different approaches to doing the surgery, such as gastric banding, gastroplasty, and Roux-en-Y. One of the outstanding differences between bariatric surgery and other methods of weight loss, like dieting, is the hormonal changes that the patient undergoes: energy expenditure is maintained or enhanced in bariatric surgery while it is merely reduced in dieting.
Weight loss in general is beneficial to an obese person as it can reduce high cholesterol levels, the risk of liver disease, and other diseases mentioned in the Daily Mail feature. A psychological boost can also be garnered by those who lose weight, as they become more comfortable in their skin. These benefits are boosted by bariatric surgery as long as it is coupled with healthy living.
Bariatric surgery can bring much to a person who needs it. People interested in undergoing it, yet have no idea where to start, can approach patient facilitators like Bariatric Surgery Solutions. They can refer would-be patients to able physicians who perform quality bariatric surgery in Mexico and other parts of North America.
(Article Excerpt and Image from Weight loss surgery could REVERSE the effects of ageing: Study finds it can protect against diabetes, heart disease and cancer, The Daily Mail, November 18, 2013)