The bariatric surgery gives increasingly encouraging results in the treatment of severe obesity. It is more and more practiced in France, with 40,000 operations in 2013.
But this major surgery is not without risk for the patient. A recent study had shown that the risk of suicide was increased in patients who have undergone this type of procedure. A new study published in the Journal of the American medical association (Jama) shows that mental health issues, such as the Depression and the binge eating, are common in patients who are candidates for weight loss surgery.
Dr Aaron Dawes, University of California, Los Angeles (USA) and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis to determine the prevalence of mental health problems among candidates and recipients of bariatric surgery. They found that 23% of patients undergoing surgery reported a mood disorder (most commonly depression) while 17% were diagnosed with an eating disorder (most commonly bulimia).
“Both of these estimates are higher than published rates for the general US population, suggesting that special attention should be paid to these conditions in obese patients,” write the researchers.
However, many studies included in this meta-analysis show that the rate of depression drops (between 8 and 74%) after surgery.
It is therefore difficult to draw clear conclusions, even if it seems that in the end, the psychological impact of this operation is preponderant.
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