Lap band surgery used to help lose weight may also boost your brain power, study finds

Lap band surgery is good for both brain and waist, study shows

Obese patients performed better on cognitive tests after the weight-loss operation than before, Dutch researchers found.

Doctors believe that the lower blood pressure caused by drastic weight loss may increase blood flow to the brain.

Post-op patients also spend less time thinking about food, freeing up brain power, the experts suggested, which could help them avoid memory-loss conditions like dementia later on.

Previous research has linked weight loss to better brain power, allowing people to better prioritize tasks, filter out distractions, and control impulses.

The latest study looked at how bariatric surgery affected the mental performance of 129 patients.

They underwent memory, speech and attention tests before gastric bypass surgery in 2018 and after in 2021.

Forty patients also underwent before and after MRIs to see how their brain structure had changed.

Presenting the findings at the European Congress on Obesity in Dublin, Dr Amanda Kiliaan from Radboud University Medical Center said the patients’ memory and attention were “still improving two years after surgery”.

She said: ‘Many studies have shown that the vascular problems present in morbid obesity are risk factors for the development of neurodegeneration, cognitive decline and dementia. People exercise more and improve their mood after surgery.’

Up to 7,000 Britons undergo bariatric surgery, the collective term for gastric banding and other weight loss operations, each year.