November 10, 2015

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The results of research Texas Children’s Hospital participated in were recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine and show teen weight-loss surgery demonstrates the reversal of type 2 diabetes and significant weight loss. Texas Children’s Hospital, along with lead investigators at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and three other sites around the country, conducted the largest study on teen weight-loss surgery to date through a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

The study enrolled 242 adolescents, ages 13 to 19, all of whom were severely obese with an average weight of 325 pounds before surgery. The participants had an average body mass index (BMI) of 53 kg/m2. Three years after surgery, average weight had decreased by more than 90 pounds, or 27 percent. More importantly, the majority of participants showed reversal of a number of key obesity-related health problems. Reversal of type 2 diabetes was seen in 95 percent and normalization of kidney function was seen in 86 percent. Hypertension corrected in 74 percent and lipid abnormalities reversed in 66 percent.

“Obesity is a serious health threat to millions of children and adolescents around the world, especially those who are considered severely obese,” said Dr. Mary Brandt, director of the Adolescent Bariatric Surgery Program at Texas Children’s. “Many of the patients we see in our program suffer from diseases usually seen only in adults. The findings of our study demonstrate that potentially life-threatening diseases, like diabetes, can be reversed in adolescents with severe morbid obesity.”

As with any surgery, bariatric surgery is not without risks. The study found fewer than 5 percent of study participants had iron deficiency before surgery, but more than half had low iron stores three years after surgery, supporting the recommendation for monitoring of vitamin and iron supplementation in these patients. In addition, 13 percent of patients required additional abdominal surgery, most commonly gallbladder removal, during the three-years following their weight-loss surgery.

“Through this data we now know surgical intervention can have a drastic impact on the serious health-related complications and comorbidities many of these children face due to their obesity,” Brandt said. “While further research is needed, intervening early could potentially have more substantial and longer-lasting implications than doing so later in life.”

Click here to learn more about the Adolescent Bariatric Surgery Program at Texas Children’s.