Weight loss surgery can weaken bones

Gastric bypass surgery - often applied to obese patients but unable to lose weight by other measures - can weaken their bones, Australian scientists warn.

Obese patients need thorough bone care
after weight loss surgery. (Photo: Daily Mail)

The therapies to help obese patients reduce the amount of food consumed is very diverse, from gastric miniature surgery, endoscopic gastric ligation to gastric bypass (connecting the esophagus directly to the small intestine) . However, endocrinologists say these measures may reduce bone density, the most worrying thing for adolescent patients, whose skeletal system has not fully developed.

The above results were obtained by Dr. Malgorzata Brzozowska from the Garvan Medical Research Institute in Sydney after investigating the complex relationship between fat, bone and nutritional limitations. " The cause of this condition is thought to be not only due to rapid weight loss and absorption of essential nutrients such as vitamin D and calcium, but also due to changes in fat-secreting hormones. and gut as well as its effects on the central nervous system, " explained Ms. Brzozowska.

The team of Dr. Brzozowska said that bone testing and treatment of bone density reduction should be considered as part of patient health care activities before and after weight loss surgery.