- Gas Stoves Could Leave Your Lungs Vulnerable to Nitrogen Dioxide
- Key Therapy Equally Effective for Women, Men With Narrowed Leg Arteries
- Doctors Describe Texas Dairy Farm Worker’s Case of Bird Flu
- Does Preschool Boost Kids’ Long-Term Academic Success? Study Finds Mixed Results
- AI Might Spot Rare Diseases in Patients Years Earlier
- An Orangutan Healed Himself With Medicinal Plant
- Quit-Smoking Meds Not Working for You? Try Upping the Dose
- Fewer Americans Are Suffering Most Dangerous Form of Heart Attack
- Even Skipping Meat for One Meal Helps Liver Disease Patients
- You May Not Have to Fast Before Catheter-Based Heart Test, Study Suggests
Gut Germs May Influence Success of Weight Loss Surgery
How many pounds someone loses after weight-loss surgery is linked to the types of germs they have in their gut, new research suggests.
The study found that higher levels of certain microbes — specifically those that produce methane — may translate to slightly less weight loss. These germs are known as methanogens.
“Our new study suggests that gastrointestinal colonization with methanogens makes it harder to lose weight after bariatric surgery,” lead investigator Dr. Ruchi Mathur said in an Endocrine Society news release.
The researchers reached their conclusions by studying the breath of more than 150 patients — 112 women and 44 men — who’d undergone weight loss surgery, also known as bariatric surgery, four to 12 months earlier. A person’s breath offers insight into the germs in his or her digestive system.
Thirteen of the patients tested positive for methane and hydrogen. On average, the decrease in their body-mass index — a measure of obesity — was slightly more than 20 percent compared to 23.5 percent for the other patients.
Mathur, director of the Diabetes Outpatient Treatment and Education Center at Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles, said too many methane-producing germs could alter a person’s metabolism. But it may be possible to change a person’s gut germs through medication or diet.
“We believe such interventions will help these patients achieve their weight loss goals after bariatric surgery,” Mathur said.
The study was to be presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in San Diego. Studies released at meetings should be considered preliminary until they are published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.
More information
For more about weight loss surgery, try the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Source: HealthDay
Copyright © 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.