The Benefits of Bariatric Surgery Beyond Weight Loss

When most people think of bariatric surgery, they think of its weight loss benefits. But did you know that bariatric surgery can help reduce the symptoms of or eliminate existing health conditions entirely?

“A variety of health conditions can be put into remission as a result of bariatric surgery and maintained improved nutrition and weight management,” shares Matthew Fourman, MD, FACS, FASMBS, a bariatric surgeon with ProMedica Weight Loss Surgery.

In addition to weight loss, bariatric surgery can significantly improve or eliminate a variety of health conditions, including type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

While relief from some of these conditions is a direct result of the weight loss itself, two conditions – type 2 diabetes and GERD – are directly impacted by bariatric surgery.

How Bariatric Surgery Can Resolve Type 2 Diabetes

In the case of type 2 diabetes, the surgery causes a hormonal change, leading to improved or eliminated symptoms.

At ProMedica Toledo Hospital in 2022, about 22% of bariatric surgery patients had diabetes. Six months post-op, only 6.7% of patients had persisting diabetes symptoms.

“We used to think that an improved blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity was a result of the weight loss. However, we now have data that shows an increase in blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity almost instantly after bariatric surgery, before weight loss occurs,” Dr. Fourman shares.

Essentially, bariatric surgery alters the hormones that your body creates in your stomach and intestines. It causes your pancreas to secrete more insulin which makes your body more sensitive to insulin. This can result in improved diabetes symptoms, including a lessened need for insulin, or possibly cause your diabetes to go into remission entirely.

How Bariatric Surgery Addresses GERD

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) can be improved or eliminated with bariatric surgery due to the physical alteration that gastric bypass surgery, or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, has on your body.

At ProMedica Toledo Hospital in 2022, 31% of bariatric surgery patients experienced GERD at the time of their surgery. One year later, GERD symptoms were resolved for half of these patients.

In gastric bypass surgery, the anatomy of your stomach is changed. A smaller pouch is created that connects directly to the small intestine. This aids in weight loss by reducing the amount of food that your stomach can hold.

This anatomical change can also improve GERD symptoms because the modification creates a low-pressure system. Relief is immediately provided by gravity and the low-pressure system created.

“Changing the anatomy of the stomach can relieve any back pressure causing the reflux,” Dr. Fourman explains.

Reducing Health Care Costs and Extending Life

According to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), obesity accounts for $173 billion in United States health care costs every year. This means that individuals who are obese pay an average of $2,500 more per year in health care costs.

“These costs are not largely to do with obesity itself, but much more to do with the medical issues that come along with it,” Dr. Fourman explains.

Health care costs related to obesity are largely found in medications to manage conditions. This includes blood pressure medications, insulin, medications for high cholesterol, C-PAP machines and so much more. All of these costs could be reduced or eliminated entirely with weight loss through bariatric surgery.

According to the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), health care costs are reduced by 29% within five years of bariatric surgery.

Weight loss can not only save you money but help you live longer and live better. “An obese child going into adulthood lives an average of eight to 10 years less than someone of a healthy weight,” Dr. Fourman shares. “And this doesn’t include the years lost if you are a diabetic.”

The cost and mental burden that obesity brings upon someone is preventable. “Imagine not having to worry about your blood sugar levels,” Dr. Fourman encourages. “Management of diabetes with medications only keeps it in check. Bariatric surgery offers the opportunity to reduce your symptoms or put the disease into remission entirely.”

Bariatric surgery is not just weight loss surgery – it offers so much more. Dr. Fourman explains his passion for bariatric surgery procedures by stating, “There is no other thing in medicine that can treat so many things in one extremely safe operation.”

Matthew Fourman, MD
Dr. Fourman is a bariatric surgeon with ProMedica Weight Loss Surgery. View his profile.