A study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh examined data on all Pennsylvania residents who underwent a bariatric operation such as stomach stapling or gastric bypass between 1995 and 2004.
They then compared the death rate amongst these patients with those in the general population.
They found there were a total of 440 deaths following 16,683 weight loss procedures during the study period, and in all groups the death rate was much higher in bariatric surgery patients than in the general population.
Dr. Lewis H. Kuller and his colleagues say being male or a senior were both associated with increased death rates.
The biggest difference was seen in patients between 25 and 34 years of age; in this group, the death rates for male and female patients were 13.8 and 5.0 per 1000 persons per year, respectively, compared with rates of 1.3 and 0.6 per 1000 persons per year in the general population.
Though the most common cause of death was coronary heart disease, there were 16 suicides, 10 of them women and the authors estimate that only three suicide deaths would have been expected in this number of people.
Dr. Kuller says the excess deaths after bariatric surgery could be reduced by better control of high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and smoking, along with efforts to prevent weight regain by diet and exercise, and psychological support to treat depression and prevent suicide.
Another new study by researchers at the Geisinger Health Care System has found that people who lose between 5 and 10% of their body weight before undergoing bariatric surgery were more likely to experience increased and speedier weight loss after the operation.
The study, which is the largest to look at the relationship between pre-operative weight loss and the subsequent outcome, says that bariatric surgery remains a highly effective treatment option for morbidly obese patients.
Experts suggest that successful preoperative weight loss could be a measure of a patient's compliance and potential for success following weight loss surgery.
According to statistics, 5% of the U.S. population are considered to be morbidly obese.
The studies are published in the Archives of Surgery, October 2007.
This therapy has been successfully tested on diabetic lab rats and the results of the study have been published in the Journal of biomedical materials research part b-applied biomaterials. For this study a millimetre thick biomaterial that has been developed by a team of the CSIC was used as support and vector for the growth hormone, and it was applied directly over the wound to be treated. As the material decays, the GH is released at a controlled rate, which aids the regeneration of skin and tissues. The scientists from the Universidad de Alcal responsible for this study have verified that the healing of a sample wound in a normal rat is complete after an average of 15 days. In the case of the subjects affected by diabetes, showing a deficient scaring process, once this hormonal therapy was applied they showed improved tissue repair reaching the same healing as a healthy rat in 30 days. The slow and controlled release of the GH stimulated the growth and differentiation process and abundant collagen secretion, which reduces the healing time and improves the quality of the regenerated tissue.
The research group for the traslacional investigation of biomaterials and tissue engineering is formed by a wide range of specialists, such as surgeons, histologists, biologists, chemists and pharmacists from the Surgery department and from the Medical specialities department. This team has dedicated itself for over two decades to the investigation and research of tissues and means for their repair. This interdisciplinary scientific area is known as Tissue Engineering, and aims to repair, substitute, maintain, or improve particular functions of organs and tissues. To achieve this objective the research group works with living cells and their extracellular space, or even create biological substitutes that can be implanted in the body.
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