Nutrition: Bariatric Surgery Not A Cure

Lillian Craggs-Dino, the support group coordinator and bariatric dietician for Cleveland Clinic Florida, presented the new research over the weekend. Experts say after 10 years of having bariatric surgery, most people will gain back 20-25 percent of the weight that they lost. Lillian thinks that the reason for this is patient nonconformities of the nutritional guidelines set for them.

"Surgery alone is not the cure, the surgical procedure comprises only a single influential piece of the success seen with the bariatric treatment option," Craggs-Dino told Ivanhoe.

Also, a new study in the July issue of Archives of Surgery suggests that bariatric surgery may not be a long term fix for healthcare costs either. Matthew L. Maciejewski, Ph.D., of the Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care, Durham VA Medical Center, North Carolina, and colleagues compared health care expenditures three years before and after bariatric procedures in a group of 847 veterans who underwent surgery with 847 veterans who did not.

Researchers found that weight-loss surgery may not end up saving money for older men. Health-related spending dropped off for the mostly middle-aged, male patients after the procedure, but over three years costs never dropped significantly below that of obese men who didn't have surgery.