There are several diets, medical procedures, and meal plans designed to lose extra pounds nowadays.
One of the more extreme way is to go under the knife. However, weight loss surgery brings both a positive boost and a great health risk in obese individuals.
A research conducted by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists concluded that women who undergo the said operation get a higher chance at conceiving.
"Our review of all the literature on this subject confirms that weight loss surgery can improve fertility and reproductive outcomes in obese women," Professor Adam Balen, lead author of the RCOG research paper wrote.
However, Balen added that this option shouldn't be taken lightly by women who are aiming to get pregnant, stating that the weight loss surgery should be considered a "last resort" only if lifestyle changes and treatments fail.
"As with any major operation, bariatric surgery carries a risk of complications but also requires a significant change in lifestyle afterwards," the professor continued.
On the other hand, a Canadian study recorded an increased risk in self-harming and suicidal tendencies for patient who went under the knife, a Reuters article said (via Yahoo! Health).
Researchers reportedly monitored 8,800 patients for three years. Most of them went through one particular type of weight loss operation known as bariatric surgery.
"During the first three years after surgery, 111 patients received emergency care for self-inflicted injuries, or roughly 1 percent of people in the study. While small, the risk of these emergencies was 54 percent higher after surgery than it was before," the report said.
Nevertheless, Dr. Amir Ghaferi, a specialist in the said surgery at the University of Michigan, insisted that the study "should not dissuade" patients with mental health problems from opting to undergo the operation, even after admitting that "long term postoperative follow-up" for patients are "not ideal."
Meanwhile, lead author of the said study, Junaid Bhatti, who is a researcher the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and the Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto, suggested that mental evaluations should be done thoroughly on patients of the said surgery.
"These findings suggest that more effort may be needed to improve access to mental health care services in these patients should they need them, and perhaps some screening in the second year and onwards," Bhatti concluded.
Find out more information about weight loss surgery from the Mayo Clinic website here.
