Weight loss surgery increases bacterial infection risks

• The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (a type of bacteria associated with gastrointestinal disorders) is high among patients about to undergo weight loss surgery, and treatment to eradicate the bacterial infection before surgery may be beneficial, according to an article in the October issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
• Weight Loss Surgery Can Help Reduce Metabolic Syndrome In Obese Patients (October 19, 2004) -- Obese patients who underwent surgical treatment for weight loss had significant reductions in the components of the metabolic syndrome one year after surgery, according to an article in the October ...
• Obese Trauma Patients More Likely To Die Of Their Injuries (September 21, 2004) -- Critically injured obese trauma patients have higher rates of death than nonobese trauma patients, according to an article in the September issue of The Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives ...
• Helicobacter Pylori Infection Most Common In Early Childhood (March 21, 2002) -- A bacteria that causes stomach ulcers infects most people before they reach age 10, according to a Baylor College of Medicine study published in the March 16 issue of the Lancet.
• The number of obese and morbidly obese Americans is steadily increasing, according to background information in the article.
• It is estimated that more than 30 percent of the U.S. population has a body mass index (BMI) over 30 (obese), and five percent of the U.S. population has a BMI over 40, resulting in a increased demand for weight loss surgery, including gastric bypass surgery (surgery that results in food bypassing much of the intestinal tract).
• Twenty to 50 percent of people living in industrialized countries are infected with H pylori, which is believed to be involved in gastroduodenal ulcer disease (a gastrointestinal tract disease characterized by ulcers in the stomach and upper intestinal tract, or foregut), in addition to gastric cancer, according to the article.
• Of those who tested positive for H pylori, 48 percent showed significant upper gastrointestinal tract symptoms indicative of H pylori infection after surgery, while similar symptoms were present in 19 percent of the H pylori-negative group.