Probiotics Help Adult Weight Loss After Bariatric Surgery

But he cautioned that the technique needs further investigation with longer follow-up.

In another obesity-related study presented at the conference, Erica Roberson, a postgraduate researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, reported that fecal incontinence and urinary incontinence are little talked about but real problems for patients both before and after bariatric surgery.

While fecal incontinence tends to worsen after bariatric surgery, urinary incontinence tends to improve. Patients often don't talk about these problems with their doctors, she said.

Roberson evaluated 194 survey responses from bariatric surgery patients, more than 80 percent of them women, roughly two years after the surgery. Almost 75 percent of the patients with urinary incontinence reported either an improvement or no change following the bariatric surgery. Fifty-four percent of patients with fecal incontinence said the problem was worse after surgery, compared to almost 12 percent who reported an improvement, the study found.

An estimated 32 percent of U.S. adults are obese, and 17 percent of teens are overweight, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

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To learn more about obesity, visit Obesity in America.

SOURCES: Roberto Fogel, M.D., researcher, department of gastroenterology, Hospital de Clinicas Caracas, Venezuela; Brian Jacobson, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of medicine, Boston University Medical Center: John M. Morton, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Calif.; Erica Roberson, postgraduate researcher, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison; presentations, Digestive Disease Week, May 17-22, 2008, San Diego