Obesity surgery is offered to patients whose body mass index (BMI) is greater than 40 or when it is greater than 35 with an associated risk factor (hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol, asthma, etc.). only in the event of failure after 6 months of well-conducted medical treatment. Last year in France, 30,000 patients (80% of whom were women) had recourse to this type of surgery, called bariatric surgery.
The growing number of procedures has prompted researchers to take an interest in the benefits of these surgical techniques. They thus realized that bariatric surgery offered certain unexpected benefits such as an increase in reproductive hormones and an increase in libido.
A study by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine of 106 women who had undergone bariatric surgery found in the majority of them, 2 years after surgery, a significant improvement in sexuality, libido and sexual satisfaction. This study, published in the professional journal Jama Surgery, also shows that operated women suffer much less from depression.
“Improving sexual health is a collateral benefit that we will now have to confirm by carrying out new studies on men,” underlines the team of Dr. David Sarwer, who led this study.
A few weeks ago, another study demonstrated the interest of bariatric surgery and more precisely of bypass to treat type 2 diabetes. Five years after the operation, 80% of diabetic patients had returned to normal blood sugar levels without resorting to medication.
