UEA research shows gastric surgery halves risk of heart attack in obese people

Obese people who have stomach surgery to help them lose weight will halve their risk of heart attack according to new research from a team of doctors at the University of East Anglia, University of Manchester and University of Aberdeen.

The procedures, known as bariatric surgery, involve techniques such as gastric banding, which are available on the National Health Service (NHS), UK for selected patients.

New research published today in the International Journal of Cardiology reviewed data from 14 studies involving more than 29,000 patients who underwent bariatric surgery. It reveals that death rates were reduced by 40 per cent, and that heart attacks in particular were reduced by half