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Liposuction can only be effective under one condition
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Exercise can help patients who have undergone liposuction protect themselves from the return of removed fat, Brazilian researchers have concluded.
Liposuction will remain one of the most popular cosmetic surgeries in the world, allowing to achieve an immediate effect in the fight against excess weight. Unfortunately, often after some time after the procedure the fat returns to its place, or appears in other parts of the body, which makes patients even less healthy than before the operation.
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism published a study by scientists from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, who recruited 36 healthy women aged 20 to 35 years for the experiment. All participants had normal weight and regularly exercised for six months before the study began.
Then, in the interests of medicine, they allowed liposuction to be performed and some fat (up to 2 kg) to be removed from under their skin. After the first four months, half of the women had their fat reserves restored, and the amount of internal fat surrounding various organs even increased by 10%. This figure is more dangerous to human health than the level of subcutaneous fat.
It turned out that all these women voluntarily (without any pressure from scientists) sharply reduced the amount of physical activity immediately after liposuction. According to the researchers, this was the reason for the fat gain. And in the second half, no increase was observed, since the women continued to exercise. Thus, physical activity is the key factor in maintaining the desired weight after liposuction.
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