After Liposuction, Fat Relocates

After liposuction, one of the most popular cosmetic surgeries, it was found that the fat returns within one year, and is distributed to different areas of the body, especially upper abdomen, says study. There was further redistribution 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," said Eckel. "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". The study was a difficult one to execute because fat must be measured precisely with expensive scans that require multiple resources and considerable manpower. The University of Colorado is one of a handful of institutions that could facilitate this type of highly controlled study. Obesity researchers said that they are not surprised the fat came back.

Data in animal models have shown that after surgical removal of fat, it tends to return to other areas. The liposuction study performed at the University of Colorado is the first randomized controlled trial in humans. "We must emphasize that liposuction surgery is not a weight loss procedure. Our research participants are wonderful women who sought to change their shape through liposuction. Despite fat returning, their cosmetic shape benefit was retained and they have been very happy with their surgery results," said Hernandez.

Source-Eurekalert