Gastric bypass gives the obese a longer life span

The latest research has shown that gastric bypass surgery not only helps obese people lose weight and look and feel better, but it also helps them live significantly longer.

According to two new studies the years gained are significant and life span in some cases is prolonged by up to 40 percent with the expected knock-on effects of lower rates of diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

The studies confirm what doctors had already suspected but had not proven, that intentional weight loss extends the life span.

The findings come at an opportune moment as more than 30 percent of the U.S. population is now considered obese with a tendency for severely obese people to die anything from 5 to 20 years earlier than people of healthy weight.

It is estimated that more than 100,000 stomach operations of some type are performed in the United States each year in order to help people lose weight.

One study found that gastric bypass surgery cut the death rate by 40 percent among 7,925 volunteers who had been followed for an average of seven years.

Gastric bypass surgery entails doctors reducing the size of the stomach to limit the amount of food a person can eat.

The researchers found the risk of heart disease dropped 56 percent, the diabetes rate was 92 percent lower and the likelihood of cancer was 60 percent less compared with 7,925 severely obese people identified by data from their drivers' licenses.

But not all the news was good as it was also found that the chance of death from something other than disease, including accidents, suicide and poisoning, was 58 percent higher in the surgery group.

Other studies have demonstrated that obese people who have the operation are more likely to suffer from mood disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder or the after-effects of childhood sexual abuse.

The researchers from the University of Utah School of Medicine say in a 7 year follow up period 171 deaths from disease were prevented per 10,000 operations.

The other study, conducted in Sweden, found that about 11 years after surgery, the death rate was 27 percent lower among 2,010 patients who had undergone some type of operation, including gastric bypass, to lose weight.

The researchers led by Lars Sjostrom of Gothenburg University, examined 4,047 obese subjects in a long-term study called the Swedish Obese Subjects (SOS) study. where 2,010 underwent bariatric surgery.

They found the gastric bypass produced the greatest sustained weight loss of about 25 percent and the death rate during the follow-up period was 5 percent in the surgery group, compared to 6.3 percent among those who did not have an operation.

The studies are published in the current edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.