Bariatric surgery improves the cognitive abilities of people suffering from obesity.
- In France, severe obesity has practically doubled in a decade.
- Bariatric surgery performed on people with severe obesity benefits their cognitive abilities, according to a new investigation.
- “The quality of global cognition was in fact higher by at least 20% in 52 members of our cohort 24 months after their bariatric surgery,” specify the authors.
According to this recent investigationbariatric surgery performed on people with severe obesity benefits their cognitive abilities.
Bariatric surgery and cognitive abilities: survey methodology
“Does weight loss induced by bariatric surgery have long-term associations with brain structures and functions?” the authors asked themselves at the start of their research.
To answer their question, they collected medical data from eligible people with severe obesity to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. They were all aged 35 to 55 and were followed in a hospital specializing in bariatric surgery in the Netherlands (Rijnstate Hospital, Editor’s note).
Participants were recruited between September 2018 and December 2020, then followed until March 2023. Information was collected before bariatric surgery, then 6 and 24 months after the operation.
At least 20% increase in cognitive abilities after bariatric surgery
Following their analyses, scientists established several things. “In this study including 133 adults suffering from severe obesity and having undergone bariatric surgery, many health indicators had improved within the cohort two years after the operation, namely: cognitive function, inflammatory biomarkers, comorbidities, level of physical activity and depressive symptoms” they write in their study. “In neuroimaging, the temporal lobe also showed changes in its structure and function. A more marked cortical thickness was notably identified in this area,” they add.
“These findings suggest that bariatric surgery is associated with long-term health benefits, including cognitive benefits.”finally note the researchers. “The quality of global cognition was in fact higher by at least 20% in 52 members of our cohort 24 months after their bariatric surgery,” they conclude.
Obesity: what is bariatric surgery?
Considered a major operation (and therefore not without danger), obesity surgery (or “bariatric surgery”) modifies the anatomy of the digestive system. Reserved for people suffering from obesity, “it is an aid which makes it possible to reduce the quantity of food consumed (principle of restriction) and/or the assimilation of food by the body (principle of malabsorption)”, precise the HAS (High Authority of Health).
Today, 17% of French people are obese, including 6% of young people aged 8 to 17. Severe obesity has even practically doubled in a decade, going from 1.1% of our population in 2009 to 2% in 2020.
