Weight-loss surgery can offer a variety of hormonal benefits and correct numerous issuesassociated with obesity, according to a recent study that has not yet been published. According to HealthDay reporter Mary Brophy Marcus, these benefits can include regulating monthly menstrual cycles, stemming excessive hair growth, and resolving skin problems.
The study, which took place in 2008 and 2009, involved monitoring 126 women who were to undergo bariatric surgery. Also known as weight-loss surgery, this procedure involves reducing the size of the stomach. This helps patients to cut back on their food intake and achieve a healthy weight over time.
The goal of the surgery, says study author Chandhana Paka, was to determine whether “bariatric surgery was a solution to helping restore menstruation in morbidly obese women whose periods have become irregular or disappeared.” The participants ranged from 18 to 49 years old with an average BMI of 46 (compared to the average 18-24).
Nearly half of the participants experienced irregular or no periods, despite the fact that they had not yet reached the age of menopause.
A year after the surgeries, the average BMI was now 33, and 99 percent of the women who had experienced irregular periods were now having regular periods. More than 80 percent of participants who had no periods have begun resuming their monthly routines. As well, many women experienced a variety of side benefits, which included reductions in:
- excess hair growth
- hair loss
- acne
- darkened skin folds
Patients who undergo weight loss surgery often require plastic surgeries in order to remove excess skin. These procedures include the arm lift, body lift, buttocks lift, tummy tuck, thigh lift, and upper body lift. Liposuction is also sometimes used in order to tighten up certain areas that may not have responded to the overall weight loss. The results of this new study should be taken with a grain of salt until they are published in a peer-reviewed journal.
