Weight-Loss Surgeries Work for Teens: Study
Not many doctors recommend weight-loss surgery for obese teenagers, the reason being its safety and effect is still under the scanner. However, a new study claims that weight-loss surgery might work out in the same way for teenagers as for adults.
For the study, researchers at the University of Miami Miller School Of Medicine analyzed data from more than 400 surgeons at 360 facilities across the United States who had performed weight-loss surgeries on around 900 patients aged between 11 and 20.
The study results showed that after a year of going through the surgery, the patients showed a reduced body weight and BMI.
The study considered two kinds of weight loss surgeries: gastric bypass surgery and gastric band surgery. While gastric bypass surgery divides the stomach into a larger and a smaller section and attaches the small intestines to the smaller stomach pouch, in gastric band surgery, a silicone band is placed around the stomach to reduce its size.
According to researchers, the findings of the study showed that both surgeries helped the patients fight several obesity-related physical- and mental-health problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes and depression.
While the average weight lost by the patients was found to be 66 pounds, it was also found that people who had undergone gastric bypass surgery lost double the weight when compared to those who had a gastric band surgery.
"These positive outcomes after bariatric surgery have not been documented for other treatment options, especially in this age group," study leader Sarah Messiah, a research associate professor and perinatal/pediatric epidemiologist, said in a university news release.
However, there are risks in weight-loss surgeries compared to lifestyle changes in diet and physical activity, warn experts.
"This study provides us with data about some of the benefits of bariatric surgery for morbidly obese adolescents, however there are still several caveats that should be kept in mind," said Dr. Lisa Altshuler, director of Kids-Weight Down at Maimonides Medical Center, in New York City, according to Health Day.
"The authors indicate their subjects included patients 11 to 18, although given the mean age of the patients, it seems that most were closer to 18 than 11," she said.
"Surgery is a drastic solution, and anything that disrupts absorption of nutrients can have an effect on younger adolescents who are not close to the end of their growth. In choosing between surgery versus intensive behavioral treatment of diet and exercise, one must always weigh the costs/potential risks of surgery against the obesity-related problems an adolescent suffers. And the younger the age of the adolescent, the more concern there should be about such surgery."
The study was published online in Surgery for Obesity and Related Disease.
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