Families Who Have Bariatric Surgery Have Improved Results

Posted: Jul 20 in Weight Loss Surgery by Staff

Your overall success with bariatric surgery can improve if your family joins you, a new study has shown. By comparing the weight loss of patients who had one or more family members who were also bariatric surgery patients to individual patients with no relatives undergoing the same procedure, researchers found improvements at the six-month, one-year, and two-year mark in weight loss and reduction of obesity-related diseases for the former group.

The family dynamic, whether it’s a built-in support system or even friendly sibling rivalry, plays an important part in the level of success a bariatric patient experiences. After six months, the family members had lost 13% more excess weight relative to the individual group. After one year, family members lost 30% more, and after two years, they lost 10% more. In addition, diabetes, hypertension, GERD, and sleep apnea all improved at a much higher rate for family members.

One factor that may seem to improve the results is that the family members had a higher tendency to continue their follow-up appointments, especially after the first year. After one year, only 58% of the individuals kept their appointments compared with 83.5% in the family member group. By keeping appointments, patients are more likely to comply with dietary requirements and resolve any post-surgical concerns that may surface. So, if you are going to have a bariatric procedure done without any family members, motivating yourself to keep your appointments and follow your surgeon’s suggestions may help you experience the highest degree of success.