Obese patients who undergo gastric bypass surgery don't have to wait weeks or months to see health gains — the benefits are almost immediate say scientists from West Virginia University’s Center for Cardiovascular and Respiratory Sciences.

One week following laparoscopic Roux-en Y gastric bypass surgery in which the stomach's size is reduced to that of a small pouch, patients already showed reductions in weight, waist circumference and body mass index. In addition, their levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol and blood pressure levels decreased. Other tests showed their hearts were working better and demanding less oxygen.

The data suggested that health improvements started early in recovery, long before patients experienced dramatic weight loss.

"The data suggest that vascular changes are happening in the early stages of recovery, prior to dramatic weight loss, thus suggesting vascular modifications are a result of an alternate surgical benefit," the research team wrote.

Obesity has skyrocketed in recent decades, and now 6.6 percent of American adults are classified as morbidly obese, meaning they are at least 100 pounds above their ideal weight.

Diabetes and high blood pressure are conditions that go hand-in-hand with obesity.
In 2013, 179,000 bariatric surgeries were performed in the U.S.