BALTIMORE, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Researchers found that malnutrition can be a problem for obese patients before they undergo gastric bypass surgery, the correction of which may help to prevent post-surgical complications and help patients adjust afterward.
The finding reverses what researchers say is a widespread belief that Roux-en-Y gastric bypass -- a reduction of the size of the stomach to about the size of an egg -- causes malnutrition issues after the surgery because of the drastically smaller amount of food that can be consumed at one time.
Generally, the issue is treated with vitamin supplements as part of post-operative treatment, but screening patients for malnutrition and correcting it ahead of surgery may help to prevent or mitigate the issue.
"Correcting malnutrition is not only easier before surgery, but it may also play a role in reducing surgical complications in the short term and improving overall health in the long run," said Dr. Leigh Peterson, a nutritionist and postdoctoral research fellow at Johns Hopkins Center for Bariatric Surgery, in a press release.
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Researchers recruited 58 surgical candidates between the ages of 18 and 65, with a median age of 42.2. Of the participants, 77.6 percent were women and 63.8 percent of them were white.
In addition to obesity, many participants in the study had other conditions: 41.4 percent had multiple comorbidities, 54 percent had hypertension, 42 percent were diabetic, and 34 percent had sleep apnea. Men had significantly more comorbidities than women as 69.2 percent had more than one condition.
Researchers tested the participatns for levels of vitamins A, B12, D, E-α, and E-β/γ as well as thiamine, folate, and iron. They found that differences in Folate and iron saturation varied between men and women, while differences in vitamins A, D, E-α, and thiamine varied by race.
Among the group, one out of five had three or more deficiencies, the most common being iron in 36 percent of participants and vitamin D in 71 percent.
Vitamin D has a key role in inflammation, infection risk and wound healing, so in addition to general nutritional concerns, deficiency poses a concern for surgical recovery, the researchers said.
"Our results highlight the often-overlooked paradox that abundance of food and good nutrition are not one and the same," said Dr. Kimberley Steele, an associate professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "Overweight and obese people can suffer from nutritional deficiencies, and those who care for them should be aware of it."
The study is published in Obesity Surgery.
