FIRST the good news: liposuction is a safe way of removing substantial quantities of fat. Now the bad: it won鈥檛 benefit health in the same way as losing fat through dieting and exercise.
Losing weight usually brings a host of benefits, including lower blood pressure, lower risk of adult-onset diabetes and reduction of cholesterol, which can clog arteries. But a study of 15 women by Samuel Klein鈥檚 team at the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, Missouri, shows that abdominal liposuction does not have the same benefits. 鈥淒espite removing large amounts of subcutaneous fat 鈥� about 20 per cent of our subjects鈥� total body fat mass 鈥� there were no beneficial effects,鈥� says Klein, whose team鈥檚 results appear in The New England Journal of Medicine this week.
鈥淚t was remarkable how similar the results were before and after the procedure,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here were no changes in insulin sensitivity, blood lipids, blood pressure or inflammatory markers associated with coronary heart disease in any of our study subjects.鈥� He thinks this is because liposuction does not affect fat cells in crucial places such as in arteries. 鈥淭his study underscores the need for the 鈥榦ld-fashioned鈥� method of eating less and exercising more to treat obesity,鈥� says Klein.
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