by ej mundell
HealthDay reporter
Weight Loss For Teens - Weight-Loss Surgery May Benefit Very Obese Teens
Friday, (Health News) - Weight Loss Surgeries, Used for a long time by obese adults to abandon excessive pounds, can provide long-lasting health benefits to very obese adolescents, a new study finds.
The study of extremely obese adolescents discovered that, three years after gastric bypass surgery or a procedure called mango gastrectomy, the average patient had lost 27% of its original weight.
What else, many also showed remission of obesity-linked patients, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
"We find significant improvements in weight, cardiometabolic health and weight quality of life in three years after [weight loss]," wrote a team led by Dr. Thomas Inge, from the Cincinnati Children Hospital.
Your team has published the November 6 discoveries on the New England Journal of Medicine, match a planned presentation of the findings at the Annual Meeting of the Obesity Week in Los Angeles.
Results of the two types of weight loss surgery were examined in the new study. On a gastric bypass, surgeons make a bag at the top of the stomach that keeps on a cup of food. This bag is then attached directly to the mean portion of the small intestine, forwarding food after the first section of the intestine.
In a sleeve gastrectomy, surgeons remove more than 85% of the stomach and shape the rest into a sleeve or tube, but do not alter as the food travels through the intestine. Weight loss with sleeve gastrectomy is usually slower than gastric bypass, and for some patients, this procedure is the first step before a full deviation.
In the study, the Inge team traced three-year results for 242 very obese adolescents with an average of 17 years of age. Adolescents had an average body mass index (BMI) of 53.
BMI is a measure of weight and height. A person with a 25 BMI is typically considered overweight, and the threshold for obesity begins at an IMC of 30. A 5-foot girl of 7 inches, 17 years old, weighing 340 pounds would have an IMC of 53.
.The study discovered that adolescents had a weight loss of about 27% over three years, regardless of which surgery was used.Teens also felt generally that their quality of life has improved after surgery.
In terms of health outcomes, 95% of patients who had type 2 diabetes before their surgery were in remission of the disease three years later, and the remission rates for high cholesterol and high blood pressure were 66% and 74% , respectively. Improvements marked on renal function were also observed, the researchers added.
There were some disadvantages for weight loss surgeries, however. For example, 13% of adolescents had to pass at least one more "intra-abdominal procedure" within the three years of their weight loss surgery, and 57% experienced anemia linked to low blood levels of iron.
"Surgery comes at a cost, documented by incidents of patients who require additional procedures and require vitamin supplementation," said a specialist, Dr. Mitchell Roslin, Head of Obesity Surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.
"However, liquid results [for obese adolescents] are mainly positive and also demonstrate that surgery is the only means for potentially reversing this negative cycle," he added.
Roslin also believes that "improved results will be obtained" for patients as weight loss surgery techniques get better over time.
