09 Jan 2024 --- As obesity rates in the US continue to increase, there is a growing demand and offer of weight management solutions, from diet and lifestyle changes to weight loss drugs and surgery. A new study highlights additional benefits of bariatric weight loss surgery, suggesting that it may mitigate cognitive decline associated with obesity, though randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm the findings. “We do not know all of the reasons that lead from obesity to brain injury. Our research has shown that the same metabolic factors that lead to brain injury also lead to peripheral nerve injury. A better understanding of the precise mechanisms has the chance to lead to new treatments in addition to those we have for weight loss,” the study’s senior author, Brian Callaghan, MD, a neurologist at the University of Michigan Health, tells Nutrition Insight.
