Weight Loss Surgery Improves Mental Health

We all know that obesity is often co-associated with self -image challenges that frequently result in depression, anxiety and quality of life challenges. At The Endocrine Society’s 92nd Annual Meeting in San Diego, Dr Andrew Johnson presented a study showing that extremely obese adults after receiving weight loss surgery demonstrate not only better physical health but also improved psychological health.

“Surgical treatment, such as laparoscopic gastric banding, is increasingly recognized as the most effective means of achieving weight loss and improving blood sugar control in morbidly obese patients with Type 2 diabetes,” said study co-author Andrew Johnson, MD, of Southmead Hospital in Bristol, U.K.

“However, until now, the long-term psychological status of morbidly obese individuals undergoing gastric banding has been unclear despite its increasing use,” said Johnson, a consultant physician specializing in diabetes and endocrinology.

Laparoscopic gastric banding, also known generically by the most popular brand name, called the “Lap-Band” procedure, is a minimally invasive weight loss surgery. It involves a band that is placed around the stomach that can be adjusted periodically to restrict or limit a patient’s food consumption.

In the study, four men and 21 women (ranging in age from 30 to 58 years) participated and had the weight loss surgery. Of these 25 patients, 16 had Type 2 diabetes and nine did not. All had a body mass index (BMI, a measure of body fat) that classified them as morbidly obese.

Participants completed psychological testing before surgery, then six and 12 months after surgery. These tests measured general anxiety and depression, quality of life, and social anxiety, or in other words, anxiety related to what others might think of their appearance.

Compared with before surgery, patients’ psychological test scores improved significantly at both six and 12 months after surgery. They had better psychological and physical quality of life, reductions in levels of general anxiety and depression, and reductions in their levels of social anxiety.

As shown in other studies, gastric banding significantly reduced BMI and haemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) , which is a three month average of blood sugar control.

“These results provide evidence one year after gastric banding that psychological health improves in parallel with physiological health,” Johnson said.

Researchers at the University of the West of England in Bristol also contributed to this study.

Source – Newswise

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