Bariatric surgery for over-60s not better than non-operative options for cancer and heart disease risk

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-08-14 01:00

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If you're over 60, bariatric surgery doesn't seem to help with reducing the risk of obesity-related cancer and heart disease more than non-operative options like it does with younger people, according to an international study. The team compared the risk of both obesity-related cancer and heart disease for 2,550 patients who underwent bariatric surgery at age 60 years or older, with 12,750 patients who had non-operative treatment for obesity. They found that the risk of either disease was similar between people who had the surgery and people who had other treatments, indicating that the protective effect of bariatric surgery which has been previously observed in younger people does not apply for over-60s.