Bariatric Surgery Cuts Cancer Risks

July 9th, 2009

A new Swedish study suggests that bariatric surgery reduces the cancer risk for women by 42 percent.

The study, conducted by researchers from the Swedish Institutes of Medicine and several Swedish universities, followed more than 4,000 obese persons during a 10 year period. About half underwent bariatric surgery with the other half tried a diet and exercise regimen alone. It reports that the 2,010 who underwent surgery loss about 44 pounds, whereas the 2,037 who did not undergo surgery and only lost 3 pounds.

During the course of the study, 169 people who did not have surgery developed cancer while 117 who did were diagnosed with cancer. More specifically, nearly 130 cancers were diagnosed in women who did not have surgery, compared to 79 found in the women who had surgery.

The report, however, did not find a drop in cancer rates for men who underwent bariatric surgery as separate studies have found similar results. Researchers note that this may be attributed to hormonal differences between men and women.

Another study by Dr. Nicholas Christou, the director of bariatric surgery and professor surgery at Montreal’s McGill University, found that men and women who underwent bariatric surgery were 78 percent less likely to develop cancer compared to other overweight individuals who did not have surgery.

What other risks does bariatric surgery cut? In some cases, health conditions such as Type 2 Diabetes and others caused by obesity have been eliminated. It doesn’t always take bariatric surgery to eliminate these types of risks. Any type of weight loss will help reduce health risks, especially for overweight and obese individuals.

Despite these great benefits, doctors still advise to consider weight loss surgery as a last resort because of its risks. Contact your Austin local bariatric surgeon to learn more about both the benefits and risks of the LAP-BAND® procedure.