Liposuction may boost the growth of dangerous visceral fat

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(CBS News) While liposuction may be a way to get a skinnier stomach, new research shows it may spur on the growth of another kind of fat.

Liposuction focuses on the removal of subcutaneous fat, which is right under the skin. After surgery, patients gained visceral fat, which surrounds the internal organs. Visceral fat has been linked to a higher risk for diabetes and heart disease, the researchers noted.

The good news is there's a way to keep blubber off: exercise. Women who participated in an exercise program after their surgery were able to keep off the fat better than the non-trained group.

The findings were published in the July 2012 issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

For the study, scientists in Brazil looked at 36 women who had undergone liposuction surgery. All the women had a body mass index of 30 or under, meaning that none of them were obese. Both groups lost about the same amounts of body weight and overall fat mass as a result of the surgery.

Then, half the group was enrolled in a four-month exercise program, while the other group was told not to. The training regiment consisted of aerobic and anaerobic (weight training). Six months after the experiment, women in the non-trained group retained a 10 percent increase in visceral fat. The women who exercised were able to keep it off, as well as improve their physical capacity and insulin sensitivity.

Lona Sandon, an assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern at Dallas, told HealthDay that this study shows how important it is to make changes in your daily routine if you are committed to losing the excess inches.

"You oftentimes have this snapback of the fats," she said to HealthDay. "Sure, you can get rid of some of it with surgery. But if you don't change your lifestyle, it doesn't stay away forever. And certainly if you've spent all this money and incurred the risk of undergoing liposuction -- and it's not a risk-free option, by any means -- why wouldn't you want to do what you can to preserve the gain?"

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This is an exceptionally important article for those contemplating liposuction. There are other ways to lose fat.

As the article states, "Six months after the experiment, women in the non-trained group (reported) retained a 10 percent increase in visceral fat. The women who exercised were able to keep it off, as well as improve their physical capacity and insulin sensitivity."

According to the study, exercise is the key. Exercise (aerobic and non-aerobic) is a lot cheaper (and far less dangerous) than periodic liposuction procedures.

And the benefits to physical stamina and metabolism are effectively life-extending.

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Why not exercise and avoid this hideous procedure? It's doesn't come as any surprise that the barbaric liposuction process would have adverse consequences. Imagine using a vacuum tube to suck out body tissue, so randomly and destructively as liposuction, being an acceptable medical practice. Now we have "subcutaneous" good fat versus the "visceral" bad fat. I'm certain these quack physicians will now work to find some new "covered" procedure to address that situation. I would outlaw liposuction. It's a phony, money grubbing concept that has no place in medical treatment. Simply put fat people on restricted diets and forced exercise or they pay heavy fines. Society should not endure the heavy financial burden for ridiculous treatments like liposuction. Obesity should be a criminal offense like the selling of the "16 ounce soda". Obesity should be grounds for immediate termination from a job. Medical treatment for obesity related treatments should not be covered by insurance. It just takes a little willpower and common sense to maintain a normal body. Fat people are repulsive to look at.