According to a new study, people who are suffering from anxiety or depression lose less weight after obesity surgery than patients who are considered to be mentally healthy.

Toronto - According to a new study, people who are suffering from anxiety or depression lose less weight after obesity surgery than patients who are considered to be mentally healthy.

The studies findings where presented in San Diego at a meeting of bariatric surgeons.

The study found that people with depression lost an average of 81 pounds six months after gastric bypass surgery. Patients without a history of depression were able to lose anaverage of 86 pounds.

“Patients with a lifetime history of mental health problems might benefit from closer surveillance,” said lead author Melissa Kalarchian of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Gastric bypass (GBP) is any of a group of similar operative procedures used to treat morbid obesity, a condition which arises from severe accumulation of excess weight as fatty tissue, and the resultant health problems (”co-morbidities”) which occur. Bariatric surgery is the surgical treatment of morbid obesity, and includes the gastric bypass procedures as one of several classes of operations.

Researchers plan to follow patients for up to two years to determine if there’s a weight difference over time