You fall asleep... and you wake up with a new hip or a stent in your heart… or without a couple of cataracts.
Surgeons can do some pretty amazing things once they’ve put you “under!”
And if your doc has recommended an operation for you, the promise of those "clear-cut" results can sure make you want to sign up.
But even if your surgery is minor or elective... and there are no complications during the procedure... letting someone slice into you always comes with its share of risks.
And according to a new study, surgery can even set you up for "brain drain" -- because going under the knife can compromise your memory and mental clarity for YEARS to come.
In the study, Mayo Clinic researchers gave a group of nearly 2,000 folks over 70 cognitive tests four times over a five-year period.
Now, given that everyone's cognitive function declines somewhat with the passage of time, you'd expect that these folks' scores would be A LITTLE worse at the end of the study than at the beginning.
And that proved to be the case.
But the participants who'd had anesthesia and surgery at any point in the 20 years prior to the start of the study had a FASTER rate of cognitive decline than those who'd never had surgery.
What's more, the researchers found that those who had surgery during the five-year study period had a faster rate of cognitive decline AFTER surgery than they'd had before.
That means going under the knife may speed up cognitive decline that's already underway... or "unmask" problems with memory and thinking that were previously under the surface.
Either way, there's no GAIN for your BRAIN!
And while all of the participants in the new study were over 70, previous studies have shown that even middle-aged folks score lower on memory tests following surgery than they do prior to it .
The theory is that the drugs that PUT you under can actually activate memory-loss receptors in your brain.
Plus, any surgery will ramp up your body’s inflammatory response -- and we know that ongoing inflammation is a risk factor for cognitive decline.
So, if you want to hold on to your precious memories, don't let the mainstream be too quick to cut you open.
Obviously, certain surgeries really do save lives in cases of critical emergencies. But for chronic conditions, surgery can often have questionable results.
For example, previous studies have shown that surgery isn’t better than active surveillance for prostate cancer… knee surgery won't help arthritis… and angioplasty is worthless for many heart patients.
You only want to choose surgery when it's absolutely necessary or as a very LAST resort -- after you've tried natural approaches to heal the root cause of whatever ails you.