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Can Liposuction Really Prevent Heart Disease?
 

Liposuction is a cosmetic surgery that removes fat from various parts of our body including abdomen, thighs, buttocks, neck and backs of the arms. In 2010, it helped more than 200,000 Americans get rid of excess fat. It is the fourth most popular cosmetic procedure in the United States, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

Recently, a plastic surgeon in private practice in Leawood, Kansas found that liposuction might not only help reduce body weight, but also help prevent heart disease. His report, which was presented at the annual meeting of the ASPS in Denver on September 23, 2011, indicated that patients’ triglyceride levels had dropped an average of 43 percent within 3 months of the procedure. Being fats in the blood, triglycerides have been associated to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke) in many studies.

Researcher looked at 322 consecutive patients (270 women and 52 men) who came for liposuction and/or tummy tuck. Among these patients, 78 percent were in the normal to overweight range and only 22 percent were obese.

Patients who had high triglyceride levels before the procedure showed an average 43 percent reduction after liposuction. The patients showed no changes in their cholesterol levels but the procedure did lead to a reduction in the numbers of white blood cells circulating in the blood. This suggested that the removal of fat reduces inflammation that is also believed to be involved in the development of heart attacks, obesity, strokes and high blood pressure.

The new findings, which had somehow surprised the author who carried out the study, draw mixed views from various health experts.

Some doctors had found the findings very interesting. While it has been known that fat cells induce inflammatory chemicals that have systemic effects, other studies has shown that it is the fat surrounding the organs that is most dangerous. The interesting part is that current study showed that the removal of superficial fat could actually improve cardiovascular risk factors. Nevertheless, they admitted that the current study was small, and suggested to carry out more research on a longer period; say at least 6 to 12 months to see if the effects will be long lasting.

On the other hand, majority of experts argued that lower triglyceride levels might not necessarily make a person prevent heart disease. The issue of whether lowering triglycerides actually lowers the risk of heart disease has yet to be shown. Incidentally, some drugs that aimed to reduce heart disease risk by lowering triglycerides were not successful in clinical trials.

Liposuction does not remove all of the body's heart-clogging fat. It merely removes fat just beneath the surface of the skin known as ‘subcutaneous fat’. Many people want to get rid of subcutaneous fat as it makes them not look as good. However, it is the visceral fat around the internal organs that raise the risk of heart disease.

The general consensus is that while liposuction might be an easier way to reduce weight, it probably would not pay off over time. Being an expensive procedure, liposuction will not be able to keep triglycerides down for the long time, as what healthy eating habits and lifestyle habits will.

Since the link between liposuction and heart health is still weak, overweight or obese people should not straight away turn to plastic surgeons for liposuction procedure as a cure for cardiovascular disease. Meanwhile, doctors would and should not recommend liposuction to their patients until more evidence can be found to prove that liposuction is effective in lowering the risk of heart disease.

In reality, at least for the time being, liposuction can never be a substitute for a good diet and regular exercise in maintaining healthy weight. Losing weight by the traditional way is still the method recommended by most doctors for heart disease prevention.

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