Heart Disease

Coronary artery disease ( CAD) is a generic term for heart disease which is usually multi-factorial in nature. Risk factors for CAD include:

• Male gender
• Age
• Smoking
• Diabetes
• High cholesterol levels
• High blood pressure
• Obesity
• High stress jobs

The combination of these variables, are often seen in patients that are morbidly obese. It is well-accepted that coronary artery disease is one of the most frequent causes of death secondary to morbid obesity.

When these risk factors are further combined, they are grouped together under the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome . Metabolic syndrome is a combination of;

• high blood pressure,
• abnormal glucose tolerance or abnormal insulin resistance,
• abdominal obesity, and
• abnormal cholesterol levels.

Metabolic syndrome is a significant risk factor for premature death and CAD. Weight loss surgery has a profound impact in regards to overall risk reduction secondary to CAD and metabolic syndrome. Multiple publications in the Journal of the American Medical Association have reported on patients followed for as long as 10 years following weight loss surgery and they continue to report a statistically significant decrease in coronary artery disease risk and cardiac mortality following weight loss surgery compared to individuals who had just medical management alone. As a result, it is an obvious conclusion that weight loss surgery will improve coronary artery disease risk and the risks associated with metabolic syndrome.