Oct 21, 2008 11:43 pm US/Eastern
HealthWatch: Gastric Bypass May Make You Smarter
Researchers Say Weight-Loss Surgery Removes Costly Belly Fat, Which Is Thought To Release Harmful Chemicals
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Gastric bypass surgery graphic (file)
CBS
What if you lose weight and find out it's made you smarter?
A popular surgery appears to do just that.
In the United States, with most Americans overweight or obese, the demand for gastric bypass surgery is booming.
The procedure often results in dramatic weight loss, which has countless health benefits. It improves sleep apnea, high blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
It cures diabetes and now a new study shows it may improve brain power.
Researchers found gastric bypass surgery improved a patient's ability to remember, to think through problems, and pay attention to details
Dr. John Morton led the research and presented his findings at the American College of Surgeons annual meeting.
"We saw a pretty big improvement across the board for these people," Morton said. "This is the first study of its kind so it's going to open up a lot of other avenues for research."
As to the cause of the brain boost, scientists don't know for sure, but the answer may be have to do with fat in the abdomen or belly area. That fat can release harmful chemicals that trigger inflammation. Get rid of that fat, and your brain benefits.
"We know the gastric bypass really improves insulin resistance it cures diabetes 82 percent of the time and at the end of the day that's really the main reason why patients had such a big improvement in cognition after surgery, " Dr. Morton said.
This study only looked at brain power in people who lost weight following weight-loss surgery, but if you lost the same amount of weight by dieting without surgery, experts said it would likely have the same effect.
Nearly 140,000 gastric bypass surgeries are done each year in the United States.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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