Bariatric surgery could potentially decelerate cognitive decline in individuals with obesity, as evidenced by stable cognition scores and improved results in secondary executive function tests.
Over the next decade, it is anticipated that up to 50% of American adults will experience obesity, a condition linked to cognitive impairment and dementia. A study conducted at Michigan Medicine revealed that individuals with obesity who underwent bariatric surgery maintained stable cognition two years after the procedure (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
The Effect of Surgical Weight Loss on Diabetes Complications in Individuals with Class II/III Obesity

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Bariatric Surgery Could Counteract Cognitive Decline in Obese Patients

According to researchers, this suggests that bariatric surgery could potentially counteract the anticipated cognitive decline associated with obesity. The findings have been published in the Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging.

Evan Reynolds, Ph.D., the lead statistician for the NeuroNetwork for Emerging Therapies at Michigan Medicine, and the first author of the study, highlighted the need for future controlled trials to further examine these outcomes. He noted that individuals with obesity typically undergo more rapid cognitive decline than those without, and the stability in cognition observed two years post-bariatric surgery may be considered a positive outcome against historical trends.

The research team assessed over 85 bariatric surgery patients using a set of memory and language tests developed by the National Institutes of Health, along with the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, during a two-year follow-up. The results indicated that scores on the NIH Cognitive Battery test remained stable, with improvements observed in secondary executive function tests. However, one of the memory assessments showed a decline following the surgery.

Addressing the Discrepancy

While this study is the largest to investigate changes two years after bariatric surgery, the results contradicted previous studies that reported improved memory and executive functioning among similar patients. Reynolds explained that the discrepancy may be attributed to the composition of the study groups, with the previous study primarily including patients who underwent gastric bypass, while their study focused mainly on individuals who underwent a sleeve gastrectomy.

The researchers emphasized the necessity of conducting larger observational studies or randomized controlled trials to provide comprehensive evidence on the effectiveness of bariatric surgery on cognition and to explore potential differences between surgery types.

Furthermore, the study found that improvements in diabetes complications, such as peripheral neuropathy, chronic kidney disease, and retinopathy, after bariatric surgery were not linked to enhanced cognition.

Senior author Brian Callaghan, M.D., a neurologist at the University of Michigan Health and the Eva L. Feldman, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology at U-M Medical School, highlighted the need for a better understanding of how metabolic factors, including diabetes and obesity , can be effectively treated to improve cognitive outcomes in patients.

“In the pursuit of cognitive well-being, bariatric surgery emerges as a potential game-changer. The journey to understand and enhance cognitive outcomes continues.”

Reference:

1. The Effect of Surgical Weight Loss on Diabetes Complications in Individuals with Class II/III Obesity – (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10011764/)

Source-Medindia