Better Form, Same Function: Liposuction doesn’t lessen health risks
By Nathan Seppa
There appear to be no shortcuts in life. A new study finds that very obese people who reduce their weight by undergoing liposuction, instead of cutting back on calories, fail to improve their long-term health prospects.
As a public health problem, obesity is a well-known risk factor for diabetes and heart disease. At the microscopic level, fat cells have been implicated in the production of inflammatory proteins (SN: 2/28/04, p. 139: Available to subscribers at Inflammatory Fat); the chronic inflammation they induce may explain much of the heightened disease risk.