New research shows liposuction is a big fat lie

Friday, May 13, 2011 by: Sherry Baker, Health Sciences Editor
Tags: liposuction, body fat, health news

(NewsTarget) (NaturalNews) Liposuction, a minimally invasive surgical procedure that uses small cannulas to literally suck fat out of the body and reshape problem areas like "spare tires" and large thighs, has become one of the most popular plastic surgeries in the country. In fact, since it became widely available in 1974, there are now more than 450,000 liposuctions performed a year.

After almost three decades of use, you might think plastic surgeons would know just about everything there is to know about liposuction. But new research reveals one big fat problem: it turns out that the sucked out blubber comes back.

And it comes back in other places -- potentially making an even bigger cosmetic problem when a person develops fatty areas he or she never had before. In fact, a study by Teri L. Hernandez, PhD, RN and Robert H. Eckel, MD, at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, have found that the fat eventually returns within only a year. The lumps of fat are redistributed to other areas of the body, especially adding fat to the upper abdomen. What's more, the scientists also found further redistribution of fat around the shoulders and triceps of the arms.

"The fact that fat returned is of great interest to us as scientists. It supports the idea that levels of body fat are very tightly regulated by mechanisms we have yet to uncover," Dr. Eckel said in a statement to the media. "This was the hypothesis we were testing and it was confirmed. In rodents when fat is removed it returns, and after weight loss in humans most everyone regains the weight. We think the brain somehow knows how much fat is on board and responds in a manner to regulate that weight. That's why preventing obesity is so important."

Why didn't researchers look into this downside to lipo years ago? The study, which was just published in the journal Obesity, was hard to pull off because it required multiple resources, considerable manpower and expensive scans to measure fat levels precisely. The University of Colorado is one of only a handful of research centers and universities that could carry out this type of highly controlled study.

Obesity researchers, according to the press statement, were not surprised the fat came back. That's because previous studies in animals have shown that after surgical removal of fat, the fat usually just comes right back, although in other areas. The University of Colorado liposuction study was the first randomized controlled trial of its kind in humans.

"We must emphasize that liposuction surgery is not a weight loss procedure," said Dr. Hernandez.

In fact, especially with this new revelation about liposuction, it makes more sense than ever to reshape your body through exercise and diet instead of turning to surgical procedures which, apparently, will suck out your fat from here, only to have it come back over there.

[Editor`s Note: NaturalNews is strongly against the use of all forms of animal testing. We fully support implementation of humane medical experimentation that promotes the health and wellbeing of all living creatures.]

For more information:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21475140

About the author

Sherry Baker is a widely published writer whose work has appeared in Newsweek, Health, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Yoga Journal, Optometry, Atlanta, Arthritis Today, Natural Healing Newsletter, OMNI, UCLA's "Healthy Years" newsletter, Mount Sinai School of Medicine's "Focus on Health Aging" newsletter, the Cleveland Clinic's "Men's Health Advisor" newsletter and many others.