of Congestive Heart Failure
BARIATRIC SURGERY
TO LOWER RISK
BY JOSH GARCIA
RE SULTS FROM A Geisinger Obesity Institute study suggest
Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery has durable protective
eff ects with regard to congestive heart failure. This is the fi rst
time a study has shown such long-term benefi ts, according
to researchers.
"Many studies have demonstrated that the Framingham Risk
Score is favorably aff ected by weight-loss surgery," says Peter
Benotti, MD, Senior Clinical Investigator at the Pennsylvania-
based Geisinger Obesity Institute. The Framingham Risk Score
predicts a person's risk of developing cardiovascular disease
within the next 10 years based on a summary of factors. "The
importance of our study is that it translated these risk factors
into hard cardiovascular outcomes."
AN EXPANDED VIEW
Indeed, multiple studies have examined weight loss from bariatric
surgery and its long-term eff ects on patients. Some of these
studies, such as the Swedish Obese Subjects trial, found that
bariatric surgery is associated with decreased mortality rates,
possibly as a result of its benefi cial eff ects on diabetes and other
cardiovascular risk factors.
"Some of these studies were limited in that they didn't have
strongly matched comparison groups," says Annemarie Hirsch,
PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiolog y
and Hea lth Ser vices Research at Geisinger Hea lth System.
"Others concentrated on specifi c populations, like patients
with Type 2 diabetes. We were rea lly able to expand on these
S T UDY L INK S
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