Risk Of Suicide Increasing Among Obese After Gastric Bypass Surgery: Study

In a new study Canadian researchers have found rise in the risk of suicide attempts and self harm injuries have been found among those patients who have undergone weight loss surgery.

Details of the study are published in the latest edition of JAMA Surgery journal. It writes this is the saddest and true fact about obesity.

Lead researcher Junai Bhatti, PhD, at the Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto, said those obese people who have underwent gastric bypass surgery are now at much higher risk of injuring themselves and opting for suicides.

He looked at more than 8,000 women and found the self harm tendency increased among 2.33 patients per 1,000 before the surgery where as the figure was 3.63 in post surgery cases.

He added further those who undergo the surgery are more likely to self harm by 50 percent after the operation compared to before the operation.

The analysis of the patients was three years before the surgery and also three years after it. Bariatric surgery includes several procedures including sleeve gastrectomy, gastic bypass surgery and more.

The researchers found most common self harm was intentional overdose of drugs and it accounts for more than 90 percent of the events. It is said the self harm emergencies are predictor of suicide.

According to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital metabolism and obesity services director Tania Markovic, the reason of self harm is probably the unrealistic expectations after operation.

He added the guidelines of National Health and Medical Research Council should be taken care of by a multidisciplinary team when patients are undergoing bariatric surgery.