Exercise may speed weight loss after gastric bypass
By Amy Norton
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who’ve undergone surgery to manage their obesity may lose more weight if they start exercising, a new study suggests.
More and more severely obese adults are turning to gastric bypass surgery in an effort to lose weight. The procedure, which restricts the amount of food a person can eat, can spur substantial weight loss and help control obesity-related conditions like diabetes.
However, while regular exercise is a well-known way to keep body weight in check, it has not been clear whether people who start exercising after gastric bypass fare any better than those who remain sedentary. The new study suggests that they do.
Researchers found that of 199 patients who underwent gastric bypass, those who became more active after surgery lost more weight over one year than those who remained relatively inactive.
In fact, the former group did as well as patients who were regularly active both before and after their gastric bypass surgery, the researchers report in the journal Obesity.
All of the study patients had undergone Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, in which a surgeon staples off the upper portion of the stomach to create a small pouch that restricts the amount of food a person can eat at one time. The surgeon also creates a bypass around the rest of the stomach and a portion of the small intestine, which limits the body’s absorption of food.
The weight-loss effects of the procedure itself are so “powerful,” it is notable that a lifestyle change may still make an important difference, noted lead researcher Dr. Dale S. Bond, of the Brown Alpert Medical School and Miriam Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island.
The findings also shed light on how much exercise may be necessary, he told Reuters Health.
The study defined “active” as getting at least 200 minutes of exercise per week. Patients who, based on survey responses, started getting that much exercise after surgery lost an average of 15 pounds more than their counterparts who remained less active.
For the most part, patients walked for exercise, Bond said, noting that walking is considered the “safest and most practical” way to get active after gastric bypass.
He suggested that patients talk to their doctors about starting an exercise regimen after weight-loss surgery. Getting active, Bond noted, may not only aid in cutting pounds, but may also help manage the medical conditions so often seen in severely obese adults — including diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
SOURCE: Obesity 2008.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Related Posts:
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Obese people who have lost substantial amounts of weight without surgery can do just as well at maintaining the healthier weight as their peers who lost weight via gastric surgery. That’s the finding of the first study to compare the two strategies. However, people who go the non-surgical route may have
Full Post: Weight can be kept off no matter how it’s lost
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Will Boggs, MD NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Sexual dysfunction that commonly occurs in morbidly obese men improves after weight loss surgery, according to a new study. “Sexual dysfunction should be considered one of the numerous potentially reversible complications of obesity,” the study team concludes. Dr. Ramsey M. Dallal, from Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, Philadelphia, and colleagues
Full Post: Weight loss surgery improves sexual function in men
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Andrew Stern CHICAGO (Reuters) - Women who get pregnant after weight-loss surgery tend to be healthier and less likely to deliver a baby born with complications compared to obese women, researchers said on Tuesday. An obese woman who has weight-loss, or bariatric, surgery also may increase her chances of getting pregnant in the first place by
Full Post: Weight-loss surgery helps with pregnancy: study
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Debra Sherman CHICAGO (Reuters) - For years, Bob Clegg’s insurance company paid out some $3,000 a month for doctor visits, drugs and medical devices to treat the health problems caused by his obesity. In September 2007, when his weight peaked at 380 pounds (172 kg), he had gastric bypass surgery, and now his health issues —
Full Post: U.S. obesity epidemic shows perils to health reform
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Susan Heavey NEW YORK (Reuters) - Medicare, the U.S. government’s largest payer of health care, said on Monday it does not plan to cover weight-loss surgery in diabetic patients who are not dangerously overweight, saying there is not enough evidence to show it can improve their health. Medicare and some private insurers already pay for the
Full Post: Medicare wants limits for weight loss surgery