The study was led by Leigh Peterson, PhD, a nutritionist of the Bariatric Surgery Department of Johns Hopkins Center. He and his colleagues analyzed the medical data of almost a million weight-loss surgeries in the country over the past 10 years in 2001.
Here are four key points:
1. Their analysis revealed that the surgery is safe, as less than 2 percent of patients experienced complications, including longer hospital stays.
2. Most of the complications reported, such as infection and non-healing of the wounds, occurred mostly in the colder seasons with less amount of sunshine. Only 172 patients had complications in the summer, but that number rose to 350 or twice as much in the winter.
3. Those who lived north, or 37 degrees north of latitude tend to recover worse than those who live in the south. The north group had almost 160,000 more patients admitted for an extended stay.
4. The researchers caution that the study has limitations, and their analysis does not mean weight-loss surgery patients should take vitamin D supplements.
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