Gastric band surgery used to help with weight-loss can also boost your brain power, study says

Gastric band surgery is good for both your brain and your waistline, according to a study.

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

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

Postoperative patients also spend less time thinking about food, freeing up brain power, experts suggested, which could help them avoid later memory loss, such as dementia.

Previous research has linked weight loss to improved brain power, which helps people 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 received memory, speech and attention tests before gastric bypass surgery in 2018 and then in 2021.

Forty patients also had before and after MRI scans to see how their brain structure had changed.

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

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

Each year, up to 7,000 Britons undergo bariatric surgery – the collective term for gastric banding and other weight-loss surgeries.