Radical obesity treatments with lasting weight loss has been found to improve life expectancy according to new research.

The first long-term studies of radical obesity treatments such as stomach stapling has shown that not only are they likely to lead to lasting weight-loss, they also dramatically improve survival.

Researchers in Sweden and America found that clinically obese people who had some form of obesity surgery had a 30 40% lower risk of dying seven to ten years later compared to those who did not have the surgery. The research will put to rest claims that bariatric surgery is just for cosmetic means it also helps to save lives.

Surgery to combat obese-ness has surged in recent years, in-line with our burgeoning waist-lines. 177,600 operations to combat obesity were performed in the US last year alone the most popular methods were gastris bypasses and stomach-stapling, where either a part of the small intestine where digestion occurs is bypassed, or the stomach is reduced in size so that patient is unable to eat large portions of food.

The research in Sweden is the longest study to-date about the effects of obesity surgery on mortality rates. 4,047 people who started with a body-mass index (BMI) of over 34 were followed through different courses of treatment three different types of cosmetic surgery, or just dieting advice.

After ten years, those who had undergone surgery had lost 14-25% of their overall body weight compared to just 2% of the people on diets. Of the 2,010 patients who went under the knife, 101 died; Of the 2,037 people who did not have surgery, 129 died.

The American study looked at 7,925 obese people who had gastric bypasses. They then looked at similar people who did not have the operation based on their driver’s licenses (which record height and weight). After follow-ups of around seven years, out of those who had had surgery, 213 had died. In the group that had not had surgery, 321 had died.

Deaths from diabetes were dramatically cut for those who had surgery by a staggering 92%. Cancer was cut by 60% and heart disease by 56%. However, the research did show up one oddity those who underwent surgery had a higher risk of death from causes other than disease such as accidents and suicides, a result which researchers have been unable to find a reason for.

Both the studies were begun when surgery was not as advanced as it is today. Cosmetic surgery today involves smaller incisions and faster recovery times. This means that long-term survival rates of people undergoing obesity surgery today should be even better.

Over 400 million people around the world are classed as obese. To shed pounds in a short period of time, surgery is the only proven method. However, surgery is expensive and although obesity surgery is considered as safe (given the risk of death from surgery is less than 1%), there are common complications associated with it such as nutritional deficiency, gallstones and hernias.

Obesity surgery should be considered as a last-ditch option after traditional methods such as dieting and exercise have failed. Different surgeons may have different requirements as to who they treat, however a good rule of thumb is that the prospective patient should be at least 100 pounds overweight and have a BMI over 40, or a BMI over 35 plus a medical condition such as diabetes or high blood pressure.