Surgery Reverses Type 2 Diabetes In Teens

Gastric Bypass Weight Loss Surgery May Halt Diabetes In Obese Youths

(WebMD)  A popular type of weight loss surgery among adults may reverse the course of type 2 diabetes in extremely obese adolescents.

A small new study shows Roux-en-Y gastric bypass weight loss surgery halted the use of medications for type 2 diabetes in 10 out of 11 obese adolescents treated with the procedure. And the surgery reduced their risk factors for heart disease.

"Although the long-term efficacy of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is not known, these findings suggest that Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is an effective treatment option for the treatment of extremely obese adolescents with type 2 diabetes," write researcher Thomas H. Inge, MD, of Cincinnati Children's Hospital, and colleagues in Pediatrics.

Researchers say type 2 diabetes has traditionally been considered an adult disease. But with the rise of childhood obesity , the rate of type 2 diabetes among children has increased more than tenfold in the last two decades, from 3% to nearly half of all new pediatric diabetes cases.

Weight Loss Surgery for Diabetes
Previous studies have shown that weight loss surgery can prompt the remission of type 2 diabetes in adults, but this is the first to show that the treatment may have the same effect in adolescents.

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is the most common form of weight loss surgery.

In the study, researchers examined the effects of the gastric bypass surgery on 11 extremely obese adolescents with type 2 diabetes and numerous heart disease risk factors.

A year after the weight loss surgery, researchers found evidence of remission of type 2 diabetes in all but one of the patients.

Specifically, the average BMI (body mass index , a measure of obesity) was reduced by 34% and fasting blood glucose and insulin concentrations decreased by 41% and 81%, respectively. Improvements in blood pressure and cholesterol levels , two major risk factors for heart disease, were also found.

In comparison, a group of 67 similarly obese adolescents with type 2 diabetes who were treated medically without surgery for one year did not lose weight and did not experience any beneficial drop in blood pressure or need for diabetes medication.

[pbkster]

It used to be that if you had bad habits you died young and didnt reproduce. We need to let these people alone or mabey just cull the human "herd" every so often not nessesaraly of obese people but people who like to start wars ,destroy the enviroment and such. It might help if christians listened to a few more surmans about glutiny and less about being pro-fetus. They say pro-life but thats a load of ***.

[nc91]

people have difficulty controlling their behavior, witness the number of alcoholics, tobacco users and religious fanatics. If the surgery is safe, why not use it?

[democrat122]

This over-hyped procedure is the nothing more than the barbaric surgical equivalent of stapling their mouths shut. It does exactly 2 things: 1) decrease the amount of food capable of being ingested and 2) decrease the number of calories absorbed from food that does make it in. Anyone else notice that both of these are EXACTLY THE SAME as what happens when you eat less? I hate it when people say ''diets don''t work'' as an excuse for this procedure. Eating fewer calories than your body burns results in weight loss 100% of the time, if you choose to do it. Human beings have the capacity to make their own choices. This procedure is what we would do to animals who can''t control themselves, not people.

[connapa]

To answer some of the questions posed: A) Childhood obesity is caused by more than just poor diet. There are multiple factors involved- including genetics.
B) The insurance companies know that they will make money in the long term by treating the problem early. Just add up the lifetime costs for medication (oral and insulin), diabetes supplies, blood pressure meds, cholesterol meds, cardiac meds following their first heart attack at 30-35, bypass surgery, kidney disease (including costs of dialysis), amputations, etc. The list could go on and on. By spending $100,000 up front, not only do you minimize all those potential bills, but you get a healthier insured person paying back into the insurance system for many years before they might need to utilize anything more intensive than just office visits. Unfortunately, it took them decades to realize that preventive care saves money in the long run (instead of maximizing profits for this year''s bottom line.)

What are these kids eating to become so obese? They need to learn how to eat the right foods and they need to stay away from fast food and soda and junk food.

What are these kids eating to become so obese? They need to learn how to eat the right foods and they need to stay away from fast food and soda and junk food.

[naber1961]

I am 47 years old, and the surgery got me off all my medications including insulin, high bllod pressure medication and cholestorol medication. I think that if teens need it and it will help them, go for it!

If you read it on WebMd, the position is taken to make profit for Doctors and Big Pharma. I really doubt this expensive procedure is the miracle they are claiming for profit.