Teenagers with obesity will benefit from gastric bypass surgery just as much as adults

Teenagers with extreme overweight will benefit from gastric bypass surgery as much as grown ups. A study by Sahlgrenska Academy, College of Gothenburg, Sweden and Karolinska Institute, Sweden found that 81 teens shed approximately 96.8 lbs following surgical treatment, considerably enhancing their health and top quality of life.


The research, posted by the Worldwide Journal of Obesity, needed eighty-one 13-18 year-olds who had gastric bypass surgery, which had in the past been performed on people younger than 18 in remarkable cases only.

The brand new research found that gastric bypass surgery is just as effective in teenagers as with adults. At two-year follow-up, the teens had averaged weight reduction from 292.6 to 195.8pounds, their self-rated high quality of life had increased and a number of risk elements for coronary heart disease - primarily insulin amounts - have greatly improved.

"The teenagers who participated in the study represent a highly vulnerable cluster, with a history of psychosocial problems related to overweight, as well as bullying and underlying mental ailment," says Torsten Lobbers, a researcher at Sahlgrenska Academy, Lead Surgeon at Sahlgrenska College Medical center along with the leader of the research.



"With that in mind, the outcomes are surprisingly good. We will absolutely want to carefully examine potential adverse effects of gastric sidestep surgery in teenagers. However no other treatment is now available for this group. Moreover, we understand from previous studies that youngsters with severe obesity have reached risk of creating other diseases and lesser quality of existence as adults. For this reason, we hope that the method may eventually be offered to more teenagers" Torsten Olbers concludes.

"Given that these teenagers have attempted all other weight control alternatives and are hard to treat, pediatricians are very responsive to a new treatment method," states Professor Claude Marcus at Karolinska Institute, who was the pediatrician in charge.

The researchers demands that gastric bypass surgery will not automatically have an impact on psychological problems: some of the youngsters persisted to feel them despite having lost weight. Furthermore, medical complications such as volvulus and gallstones required follow-up surgery in some cases.

Source: University of Gothenburg
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