Importance of metabolic surgery to improve blood pressure control in obesity

Importance of metabolic surgery to improve blood pressure control in obesity

Obesity and overweight are increasing concerns for societies and health systems in various countries. This is fueled by the increasing appetite for junk food, a sedentary lifestyle and lack of exercise. Obesity has serious medical implications, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, mellitus, arthritis, and other long-term deleterious effects. Obesity associated with dyslipidemia, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes mellitus forms the clinical entity called metabolic syndrome. Hypertension is a strong risk factor for major cardiovascular events such as stroke, myocardial infarction, etc.

Traditional management of hypertension has relied on the use of antihypertensive medications and lifestyle changes. Management for obesity included lifestyle changes such as exercise, diet and drugs. The results achieved with these interventions have been frustratingly poor.

Metabolic surgery is currently the most effective method for achieving rapid weight loss in individuals who meet the criteria. Metabolic surgery uses bariatric techniques such as ileal interposition, transit bipartition, sleeve gastrectomy, etc. This surgery is also called diabetes surgery, weight loss surgery, or metabolic surgery.

In addition to achieving and maintaining weight loss quickly, it has been discovered that metabolic surgery also leads to long-term improvement in comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and even hypertension, hence the name metabolic surgery.

The greatest evidence to date that overweight people who undergo this surgery have better control of their blood pressure comes from the GATEWAY study. The study monitored 100 patients with hypertension whose BMI was between 30 and 39 kg/m2. The study found that people who had surgery achieved faster blood pressure control within 12 months (83%) than people who relied solely on antihypertensive medication (12.8%). This is insightful and indicative of the fact that obese individuals who undergo metabolic surgery have better control of their blood pressure in addition to improving other comorbidities associated with obesity.

This may be explored as a strategy in the treatment of hypertension in obese individuals, benefiting from both rapid weight loss and improvement in blood pressure control.

The current approach to treating high blood pressure involves the use of multiple antihypertensive pills as well as diet and lifestyle changes. This has been associated with poor compliance and medication fatigue. This has a negative impact on the success of the treatment.

With metabolic surgery, overweight individuals who are also hypertensive not only benefit from rapid weight loss, but also have better blood pressure control through the use of fewer antihypertensive medications. Therefore, this is a valuable treatment method and an advantage of metabolic surgery. However, it is important to note that not all individuals qualify for metabolic surgery. Discuss your eligibility with your doctor today.

Inspired by Aylin Sheik