With the lack of physical activities and sedentary lifestyle choices such as consuming Chinese fast food and simple sugars have led to immense high in number of obese patients in the country. Obesity elevates the risk of developing cardiac disorders which can be fatal in near future.

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading global cause of deaths, accounted for about 17.3 million causalities per year which is expected to grow to more than 23.6 million by 2030.  Cardiac disorders have claimed more lives than all forms of cancers combined.

“Due to highly stressed working hours, people often forget to take care of their physical well being and relies on fast food as eatables which ultimately gives birth to obesity. It is a major risk factor for developing atherosclerosis and subsequent cardiovascular disease.  Obesity along with hypertension (high blood pressure), insulin resistance and abnormal amount of lipids in the blood combines to form a medical disorder known as ‘metabolic syndrome’ said Dr Atul N.C Peters, Bariatric, Minimal Access and General Surgery, Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital, Saket.

Gastric bypass surgery has dramatically changed the trajectory of many chronic diseases associated with diabetes and improves multiple cardiovascular risk factors in the long term.

“Bariatric operations can achieve a sustained weight loss of up to 50% which results in favourable modulation of serious cardiovascular complications.  After the surgery parameters which were found to be improved were diabetes, uric acid, blood triglycerides and diastolic blood pressure. Several studies have proven that gastric bypass surgery reduces the risk complication of developing cardiovascular diseases for the patients. According to the results presented by the researchers from the Cleveland Clinic at the 30^th Annual Meeting for the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), after weight loss surgery people reduce the risk of having a heart attack by 40 percent over a 10 year- time period” added Dr Atul.

The SOS study also revealed that as compared to other weight loss modalities, surgical procedure is more beneficial at improving cardiovascular risks. No standardization was found in non-surgical treatment arm. Data from a number of recent meta-analyses suggests that bariatric operations result in larger benefits to cardiovascular risk parameters than other weight loss therapies.

About the author- Dr Atul N.C Peters, Bariatric, Minimal Access and General Surgery, Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital, Saket