Obesity is a growing concern that costs the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK around £6 billion a year, a number projected to rise to nearly £10 billion by 2050.
One of the treatments for obesity is bariatric surgery, which alters the stomach and digestive system to limit food intake and nutrient absorption.
Although the surgery often yields positive results, some patients lose less weight than expected. Now, researchers believe they’ve found a key factor affecting these outcomes: inflammation levels in the blood.
Inflammation, Not Depression, Affects Weight Loss
In a groundbreaking study from King’s College London, scientists have shown that higher levels of inflammation in the blood are linked to less successful weight loss after bariatric surgery.
This research is the first of its kind to explore how depression and inflammation are connected in patients before and after the procedure.
For years, depression and obesity have been known to co-exist. Researchers previously suspected that the immune system’s release of inflammatory proteins might be the common factor driving both conditions.
To test this theory, scientists at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College conducted a study involving 85 participants. All were obese and slated to undergo bariatric surgery.
Of the 85, 41 patients had levels of depression that met the criteria for clinical diagnosis. Scientists measured levels of various proteins released during inflammation, like C-Reactive Protein (CRP) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6), before and after surgery.
Those with depression had higher levels of these inflammatory proteins. Remarkably, six months after surgery, patients with higher levels of these proteins lost less weight, irrespective of whether they were depressed or not.
What This Means for Patients and Doctors
Valeria Mondelli, the lead author of the study and a Clinical Professor at IoPPN, stressed that these findings could pave the way for more personalized treatments to improve patient outcomes post-surgery.
Knowing that inflammation levels could predict weight loss might lead to treatments targeting inflammation to ensure more successful weight loss after surgery.
Dr. Anna McLaughlin, another researcher involved in the study, highlighted that understanding these inflammation levels could help healthcare providers better predict who might need additional support following surgery.
Particularly, patients with a history of childhood trauma, who are already flagged for extra psychological support post-surgery, could benefit from a multi-faceted approach that includes addressing inflammation.
In summary, this research suggests that tackling inflammation could be a new frontier in improving bariatric surgery outcomes.
It’s not just about altering the body to eat less but also understanding the body’s internal environment and how it responds to the surgery.
With obesity being such a financial burden on healthcare systems and a risk factor for numerous health issues, these findings are an essential step toward improving treatment efficacy and patients’ quality of life.
If you care about weight loss, please read studies that hop extract could reduce belly fat in overweight people, and early time-restricted eating could help lose weight.
For more information about weight loss, please see recent studies that the Mediterranean diet can reduce belly fat much better, and the Keto diet could help control body weight and blood sugar in diabetes.
The study was published in Psychological Medicine.
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