Improved memory function 12 weeks after bariatric surgery

Growing evidence has shown that obesity is associated with poor neurocognitive outcomes. This is not unexpected considering that many obesity related diseases have negative effect on cognitive abilities.

Bariatric surgery has been shown to be an effective intervention for morbid obesity and can result in improvement of many co-morbid medical conditions that are associated with cognitive dysfunction, but, the effects of bariatric surgery on cognition are unknown.



Dali - The Persistence of Memory



To answer this question, investigators from several american hospitals, performed a study with 150 obese patients. 109 patientes were treated by surgery and the other 49 were not operated.

These 150 subjects completed a cognitive evaluation at baseline and at 12 weeks of follow-up.

Group comparisons using repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance showed that the surgery patients had improved memory performance at 12 weeks of follow-up; however, the memory performance of the obese controls had actually declined.

The present results suggest that cognitive impairment is common in bariatric surgery patients, although these deficits might be at least partly reversible.

The original paper can be found in Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases.