Weight loss surgery may improve breathing issues: Study

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 29 (APP): Researchers have revealed that Bariatric surgery and weight loss appear to reverse some of the negative effects of obesity on the respiratory system.

For the study, published in the journal Radiology, the research team evaluated changes in the respiratory systems of 51 obese individuals who underwent Bariatric surgery, a treatment for obese patients who have not responded to other weight loss approaches.

The procedure reduces the size of the stomach. All participants lost weight post-surgery with a mean body mass index decrease of 10.5 kg/m2.

“For the first time, this study has demonstrated changes in the CT morphology of large and small airways that improve when individuals lose weight.

These features correlate with an improvement in patient symptoms,” said study lead author Susan J. Copley from Hammersmith Hospital in London.

The researchers used CT to measure the size and shape of the trachea and assessed air trapping, a phenomenon in which excess air remains in the lungs after exhaling, resulting in a reduction in lung function.

When the researchers compared results at baseline and six months after Bariatric surgery, they found that surgery and weight loss were associated with morphological, or structural, changes to the lung and trachea.

Post-surgery CT showed reductions in air trapping and a lower incidence of tracheal collapse.

Change in the extent of CT air trapping was the strongest predictor of improvement in dyspnea, or shortness of breath, the study said.

The results suggest that there may be a reversible element of small airway inflammation related to obesity and that reversal of this inflammation correlates with improvement in symptoms.

The findings also point to CT as a potential marker of this inflammation.

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