Bariatric surgery to help the obese shed weight also reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Heart.

Bands restrictive surgery on the stomach or bypass part of the digestive tract are sometimes used to help morbidly obese patients lose weight when drugs or changes in diet and exercise fail.

Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, conducted a trawl database to pick out 73 previous studies, covering about 20,000 people, that detailed weight and other health problems before and after surgery bariatric.

Three quarters of the patients were women, whose average age was 41.

After the operation, participants lost an average of 54 percent of excess weight they carried, a figure that varied from 16-87 percent.

Improved high blood pressure in 63 percent of patients, diabetes by 73 percent and blood cholesterol 65 percent of them.

Other studies 18, 713 spanning others, found that surgery led to improvements in heart function, such as its ability to pump and refill with blood.

The comment was not without limitations, the authors said.

The studies did not observe the same operative techniques or share the same criteria for measuring improvements. There were blanks "tracking" or monitoring patients long after their operation.

Still, the image is strong enough to say that bariatric surgery has gone "beyond the realms of a cosmetic procedure" as an option that can save lives for the right patient, said the review.

He also warned of the risks involved in bariatric surgery. Statistics point to a 0.3 percent risk of death, a five percent risk of intestinal obstruction and eight percent risk of an ulcer.