bariatric surgery

March 18, 2024

Bariatric surgery linked to cardiometabolic health improvements: study

Bariatric surgery can lead to significant cardiometabolic health improvements using a variety of measures, including blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose and hemoglobin A1C, according to a new study published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society.  

Bariatric surgery patient Veronica Llamas-Barajas recently received a heart transplant.
September 15, 2022

Patient’s care journey included LVAD, bariatric surgery, transplant

When Veronica Llamas-Barajas received a heart transplant at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in April, it was the culmination of a seven-year journey.

Patient Veronica Llamas-Barajas (light gray shirt) with members of her care team, from left, Casey West, MSN, ANP-BC, Sandip Zalawadiya, MBBS, Jessica Hassler, RN, Wendy Tarpley, RN, and Wayne English, MD.
January 13, 2022

Bariatric surgery gave LVAD patient second chance at life

Veronica Llamas-Barajas is the first LVAD patient at Vanderbilt to undergo bariatric surgery.

Christopher Menzel, MD, right, performed gastric bypass surgery for Kristian Wernet, left, a patient of the new Vanderbilt Weight Loss Center in Lebanon, Tennessee.
April 13, 2021

Weight Loss Center at VWCH helps expand bariatric surgery options

In May 2020, dangerously high blood pressure put 44-year-old Kristian Wernet in the hospital, a tipping point that led him to become one of the first individuals to have gastric bypass surgery at Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital (VWCH) as a patient of the new Vanderbilt Weight Loss Center in Lebanon, Tennessee.

January 10, 2019

Bile acids mediate metabolic benefits of weight-loss surgery

A team of Vanderbilt investigators has pinpointed the role of bile acids and a specific signaling pathway in the positive metabolic effects of weight-loss surgery.

August 30, 2018

Investigators find that bile acids reduce cocaine reward

Bile acids — gut compounds that aid in the digestion of dietary fats — reduce the desire for cocaine, according to a new study by researchers at Vanderbilt and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.