Health and Happiness: Weight Loss Surgery Reduces Depression and Improves Sex Life

Obesity is a barrier to happiness for many women. Besides increasing the likelihood of heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer, it can also lead to depression and sexual dysfunction. But there’s hope: a recent study has shown that bariatric surgery, in reducing women’s body mass indices (BMIs), also reduces depression and caused significant improvements in overall sexual function.

Bariatric surgery refers to a set procedures that includes reducing the size of the stomach or altering the course of the intestines, usually to treat potentially dangerous cases of obesity. The study, published in the journal Obesity Surgery, was performed on 60 female patients who underwent bariatric surgery. Their ages ranged from 18 to 56 years, and most were married.

As author Konstantinos Assimakopoulos and his colleagues point out, there has been some concern about the effect of bariatric surgery on the psychological and social adjustment of patients. This has led to a spate of studies on postoperative bariatric patients; these studies have uniformly revealed declines in anxiety and depression, with a corresponding improvement in quality of life.

Previous research has suggested that obesity is linked to a number of sexual problems, including lack of desire, poor performance, and avoidance of intimate encounters, which may negatively affect the lives of millions of women living with obesity.

Although discussing sexual issues is always a sensitive matter, the study reports that “despite initial hesitations or frustration, most women proved quite cooperative and were ultimately relieved to discuss sexual difficulties with their physicians.” After their operations, the patients reported enhanced sexual desire, arousal, and satisfaction. Analysis showed that the drop in BMI was the determining factor in these improvements.

However, since this study only followed the patients for a year, it seems that further research may be necessary to determine whether these positive effects endure in the long-term.