According to a new study bariatric surgery does not help older men to have a longer life.

The study at a Veterans Affairs medical center looked at 850 male patients, with a mean average age of 49, who underwent weight loss surgery and discovered that obese men did not have a higher chance of being alive than men who did not have surgery.

All surgery was done between January 2000 and December 2006.

Patients undergoing the surgery had a morality rates with 6.8 percent against 15.2 percent after six years.

However, a comparison of veterans with 1,694 patients who did not have the surgery, researcher found no significant reduction in mortality.

Many obese people still undergo weight loss surgery because it helps patients lose weight, reduces obesity related diseases and improves the quality of life, the authors said

The study was published online on Journal of the American Medical Association in the June 15 print issue.

Medicine Weight loss