Gastric Bypass Prolongs Life

Gastric bypass may increase life expectancy for most patient subgroups.
The Los Angeles Times (1/18, Roan) "Booster Shots" blog reported, "Weight-loss surgery is becoming more popular, as reported earlier this month in the Los Angeles Times." Now, researchers at the University of Cincinnati say they have evidence "that the benefits of surgery outweigh the risks for many severely obese people." Specifically, "gastric bypass increases life expectancy for most patient subgroups," the team pointed out in their Archives of Surgery paper.
Using a mathematical model, the Cincinnati Enquirer (1/18, O'Farrell) reported, "researchers led by Daniel Schauer, an assistant professor of medicine at UC, found the surgery added three years to the life expectancy of the average morbidly obese gastric bypass patient -- a 42-year-old woman with a body mass index (BMI) of 45." A "44-year-old man with the same BMI would gain 2.6 years of life," HealthDay (1/18, Edelson) reported. "'The patients who benefit the most are younger patients who have a lower risk of dying from the surgery and a higher BMI,' Schauer said." Conversely, those "who benefit the least are older patients with a higher surgical risk because of a combination of age and comorbidities."