Latest Weight Loss Surgery News

Two recent studies of thousands of weight loss surgery patients in Sweden showed increased rates of divorce in those who were married before surgery, as well as increased rates of marriages in those who were single before surgery.

Weight loss surgeries result “in a re-calibration of relationships, with patients realizing that they can indeed get out of unhappy relationships and/or initiate new healthy ones,” says Dr. Samer Mattar, President of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery and Medical Director, Swedish Weight Loss Services in Seattle, Washington.

An added interesting find was that changes in relationship status were actually more common in those with larger weight loss – the larger the weight loss, the increased chance of a relationship status change find. It should be noted that the majority of subjects in these studies were women, and yes they did all live in Sweden. “It is unknown if the results can be generalized to other countries and cultures,” the authors acknowledged.

In numbers, these studies showed:

1st study: 10 years after surgery, rates of marriage or new relationships were ~35% in the surgery group, and 19% in the non-surgery group. Married patients saw a rate of divorce or separation after four years at ~9% in the surgery group compared with 6% in the non-surgery group. And after 10 years post surgery, rates of divorce were increased and even more pronounced
2nd study: Unmarried people who had weight loss surgery were 35 percent more likely to get married, and surgery patients who were married were 41 percent more likely to get divorced, compared to people in the general population.

“Bariatric surgery magnifies and clarifies the pros and cons of relationships,” said Mattar. Patients should be aware, he said, that the surgery will improve their health and quality of life, including their ability to independently and confidently make personal decisions.

Bariatric surgery is an effective treatment for obesity that has become increasingly popular. In 2016, surgeons performed 216,000 of these procedures in the U.S. alone, including gastric bypass, gastric banding, and sleeve gastrectomy. While all surgeries carry risks, evidence shows that the risks of morbid obesity outweigh the risks of bariatric surgery, according to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.

Visit www.drgrabermd.com for more information on weight loss surgery!