New data from British researchers shows that whether you lose weight by surgery or dieting, the weight loss will be good for your heart.
A recent report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology indicates that heart muscles among obese people will function better after they lose weight. Researchers at The University of Oxford used cardiac X-rays to study 37 patients who had an average body mass index of 40. But after these patients reduced their BMI to around 32 within a year, by diet or surgery, doctors could see significant heart improvement. The heart could hold more blood, they said, and the heart walls were not as thick.
The researchers said either diet or weight loss surgery will show these positive results. But bariatric surgeon Dr. Christine Ren-Fielding of the NYU Program for Surgical Weight Loss in New York City explained that losing weight through dieting alone is hard to maintain. According to statistics, she said, maintaining the weight loss you want by watching what you eat is not only difficult, but rare. However, long term studies indicate that with weight loss surgery, the pounds stay off.
