Summary: Although the primary reason for performing bariatric surgery is to reduce weight and improve certain metabolic functions, it has proven to have several other benefits. Scientists found that weight loss surgery can control modification in cerebral activity and improve cognitive functions associated with organizational and planning skills, reducing the risk of Alzheimer.
Scientists found that weight loss surgery can improve cognitive functions in several parts of the brain.
Although the primary reason for performing bariatric surgery is to reduce weight and improve certain metabolic functions, it has proven to have several other benefits. Scientists have found that weight loss surgery can control modification in cerebral activity and improve cognitive functions associated with organizational and planning skills.
Bariatric surgery is used to help people who are dangerously overweight or obese become more slender. By limiting the amount of food that you can ingest and the amount of nutrients that you can absorb, weight loss surgery significantly slims the waistline and helps control or prevent medical problems often related to obesity.
When researchers studied a sample of obese women before weight loss surgery, they found that sugar metabolism in some parts of their brains was at higher rates than regular-sized women. Of these parts was one that is linked to the development of Alzheimer disease. After the patients underwent gastric bypass, they examined the same parts and found that sugar metabolism had been reduced. This means that obesity contributes to the advance of Alzheimer, while obesity surgery reduced the activity in that part of the brain.
The participants were also given a test to measure the capacity of their brains in multiple aspects such as the ability to link past understandings with present behaviors. It found that, after the surgery and weight loss, the women all performed better on the test.
This study, then, suggests that, in addition to its obvious effects on physical health, bariatric surgery also plays a chief role in improving mental health in obese individuals and in refining cognitive functions.
