A new study shows that bariatric surgery is more effective at controlling high blood pressure in people with obesity compared to using blood pressure medications alone.
The research, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found that people who had weight loss surgery not only maintained healthier blood pressure but also needed fewer medications after five years.
Obesity is a major risk factor for heart disease and is closely linked to high blood pressure.
In the U.S., 41.9% of adults are obese, and 45.4% have high blood pressure, according to the CDC.
High blood pressure can lead to serious health problems like heart attacks and strokes.
Dr. Carlos Aurelio Schiavon, the study’s lead author and a bariatric surgeon in Sao Paulo, pointed out that obesity is often ignored in medical practice, even though treating it is key to lowering the risk of high blood pressure and other heart-related issues.
While there are new medications for obesity, sticking to them over the long term can be difficult. This study shows that bariatric surgery offers a better, long-lasting solution.
The study, called the GATEWAY trial, included 100 people, most of whom were women, with an average BMI of 36.9 kg/m².
All participants had high blood pressure and were taking at least two medications to control it. They were split into two groups: one group received gastric bypass surgery along with medical therapy, while the other group only received medical therapy.
The goal was to see if they could reduce their blood pressure medication by at least 30% while keeping their blood pressure under control.
After five years, the group that had bariatric surgery had an average BMI of 28.01 kg/m², compared to 36.40 kg/m² for those who only took medications.
People who had surgery were able to reduce their medications by 80.7%, while those on medical therapy alone only reduced their medications by 13.7%.
Most impressively, nearly 47% of the surgery group had normal blood pressure without any medication, compared to just 2.4% in the medical therapy group.
While the study had some limitations, such as being conducted at a single center with a small sample size, it highlights the significant benefits of bariatric surgery for long-term weight loss and blood pressure control.
More research is needed to explore the best timing for surgery and to compare it with newer obesity medications. However, this study suggests that bariatric surgery could be a powerful tool in managing obesity and reducing the risks of high blood pressure.
If you care about blood pressure, please read studies about unhealthy habits that could increase high blood pressure risk, and people with severe high blood pressure should reduce coffee intake.
For more information about blood pressure, please see recent studies that early time-restricted eating could help improve blood pressure, and results showing plant-based foods could benefit people with high blood pressure.
