Research
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Bariatric surgery reduces coronary artery disease (CAD) risk, whereas medical weight loss has not demonstrated a reduction in CAD rates.
If you have severe obesity, bariatric surgery is the only weight loss intervention proven to reduce heart disease risk. Medical weight loss programs have not shown this benefit. Discuss surgery with your doctor if you are a candidate.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
However, clinical trials of medical weight loss have not demonstrated a reduction in coronary artery disease rates. In contrast, prospective studies comparing patients undergoing bariatric surgery with nonsurgical patients with obesity have shown reduced coronary artery disease risk with surgery.
Why this rating
Based on prospective studies and clinical trials.
Source
Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association
Tiffany M. Powell‐Wiley et al. · Circulation · 2021
DOI 10.1161/cir.0000000000000973
clinical_guidelineCited 3,438×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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