The Connection Between Weight Loss Surgery and Improved Heart Health

You’re worried about your heart. Maybe a doctor told you that you needed to make serious lifestyle changes in order to avoid a possible heart attack. Maybe you’re just tired of the cost of heart rate medications, of never feeling like your heart is quite alright, and of the looming risk of heart surgery or heart disease in a few years.

Luckily, bariatric surgery can help. In addition to helping you to lose weight and keep it off, bariatric surgery has a strong track record for helping patients just like you to improve their heart health.

Let’s walk through how, together.

The Link Between Obesity and Heart Health

First, it’s important to understand that obesity has a direct impact on your heart health. Obesity can increase your blood pressure. When you suffer from obesity, your heart has to work harder to pump blood throughout your body. Your blood vessels also require higher pressure to move the blood. High blood pressure is a common cause of heart attacks.

Obesity also causes an increase in bad cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Making matters worse, it can also reduce good high-density lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol, which is important for removing bad cholesterol and reducing the risk of heart disease.

A rise in abdominal obesity is also associated with heart problems. Dr. Tiffany Powell-Wiley, chief of the Social Determinants of Obesity and Cardiovascular Risk Laboratory at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, says that “Studies that have examined the relationship between abdominal fat and cardiovascular outcomes confirm that visceral fat is a clear health hazard.” Abdominal obesity is associated with fat accumulation around the liver, which can lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Fatty liver disease is another risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Excess fat tissue can also contribute to cardiovascular disease. One study found that excess fat in the myocardium led to “structural and functional alteration” of the heart. Fat tissue, called adipose tissue, also secretes hormones that can lead to inflammation, thrombosis, heart disease, and heart attacks. 

Finally, obesity can lead to diabetes. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), diabetes is one of the top seven major controllable factors in terms of creating a lower heart disease risk.

Can Weight Loss Surgery Affect Your Heart?

The good news is that the answer is ‘yes’. Bariatric surgery has a strong track record for helping patients who suffer from obesity to improve their heart health. According to one study, patients who underwent bariatric surgery reduced their risk of heart attack by 42%.

Can You Improve Heart Health By Losing Weight?

One reason that bariatric surgery is so effective at improving heart health is the weight loss that surgery helps patients to attain. At the Bariatric and Metabolic Center of Colorado, many of our patients lose 100 or even 150 pounds or more and keep it off. That reduces your fatty tissue quite a bit, which can reduce your cardiovascular risk by itself. According to Dr. Mehran Anvari, professor of surgery at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, “When you carry less weight, your heart has to work less to pump blood.” As a result, “there is less strain on your heart, but there is also improvement in other cardiovascular risk components, such as lowering of triglycerides and cholesterol.”

What Are the Long-Term Benefits of Weight Loss Surgery (Besides Losing Weight)?

Besides weight loss, bariatric surgery benefits many different systems of the body, including your muscles and many organs. In fact, these bariatric surgery benefits are so powerful that bariatric surgery is sometimes referred to as “metabolic surgery.” This is one reason that bariatric surgery is so powerful when it comes to improving heart health. As a report by the AHA puts it, “Bariatric weight loss surgery has been shown to reduce the risk for coronary artery disease better than weight loss achieved without surgery.” One reason for this, the AHA stressed, may be “the resultant changes in metabolism that are typical after bariatric surgery.” Bariatric surgeries such as gastric bypass surgery and duodenal switch surgery are very successful at curing type 2 diabetes. 

(Learn more about the benefits of bariatric surgery)

Bariatric surgery is also effective at treating high blood pressure. One study found that high blood pressure resolved in 63% of patients who underwent surgery. High blood pressure is a contributing factor for cardiovascular disease and heart attacks.

Taking the Next Step to Improve Your Heart Health

Your heart health matters. It matters to you, and it matters to us. The good news is that bariatric surgery is a powerful solution to help you lose weight and make your heart healthy again.

Many of our patients say that the decision to undergo bariatric surgery was the best decision that they ever made.

“I suffered from pulmonary hypertension and right sided ventricular hypertrophy. I was seriously diabetic for 20 years, and on 2 shots of insulin and 3 other diabetes medicines. I had very high blood pressure and was on 2 meds for it. My cholesterol was 430 WITH medication. I spent most of my day in bed, rarely left the house and had almost no life outside of the upstairs of my home….

“Today, 2 years later and 105 pounds less I am a new person. No walker, no cane, no Oxygen. I am completely cured of diabetes and off all those meds. No meds for blood pressure or cholesterol. My cholesterol is now 120. My heart is doing awesome and I am vibrant and active. I spend a lot of time with my grandchildren and could not be happier!”—Colleen White, gastric bypass patient.

If you’re suffering, don’t wait. Contact our Denver office today.