Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Over 2.5 billion deaths around the world each year are related to obesity and, consequently, more people are turning to bariatric surgery. Due to dramatic weight loss and a significant reduction in the physical load placed on the skeleton, research has revealed that bone mineral density (BMD) significantly declines in bariatric patients within the first year following surgery. Literature shows bariatric patients lose up to 40% body weight within the first year of surgery yet slowly begin to regain it over time. The purpose of this study was to determine BMD at the hip, lumbar spine and total body in both successful and unsuccessful gastric bypass patients ten years post-surgery. A cross-sectional study of 115 patients (51.94±10.22y) who underwent gastric-bypass surgery an average of 10.35±3.36 years prior to visiting the laboratory was conducted using iDEXA technology to evaluate total body, hip and lumbar spine BMD. A t-test and univariate multiple regression analysis was performed to adjust for age, gender, pre-surgery BMI, current BMI, bone medication and exercise habits. Successful patients (lost >50% excess weight since surgery) had significantly lower BMD at the total body (B=-3.04, p<.05), hip (B=-.294, p<.05) and lumbar spine (B=-.289, p<.05) than did unsuccessful patients (those who did not lose >50% excess weight since surgery). Results suggest that patients who lose more than 50% excess weight and maintain weight loss long-term following surgery have significantly lower BMD and are at greater risk for the development of osteoporosis, fracture and debilitation.