Gastric Bypass Surgery Reverses Type 2 Diabetes in Teens... But Should the Surgery be Used?
A recent study, published in the January, 2009 issue of the Pediatrics journal, shows that gastric bypass surgery does lead to remission of type 2 diabetes and it's symptoms, as well as a decrease in blood pressure and risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
The study involved adolescents who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and who were morbidly obese with a BMI of approximately fifty. There was remission of diabetes in all but 1 of the participants.
According to the article, there were improvements in all of these areas;- Improvements in BMI
- Fasting blood glucose
- Fasting insulin concentrations
- Hemoglobin A1c levels (7.3%–5.6%),
- Insulin sensitivity
- Serum lipid levels
- Blood pressure
It's not known what the long term effects of gastric bypass surgery on such young patients might be.
What is your opinion on gastric bypass surgery for morbidly overweight teens who have type 2 diabetes? Should the surgery be an option, or should more conventional methods of weight loss be used?
Take our poll... or if you'd like to say more on the subject, hit the comment button below.
Comments
Of course more conventional methods of weight loss should be the first stop on the road. However, if earnest attempts fail, then surgery should probably be made available.
The thing that’s important to remember is that if teens don’t learn healthy eating habits and deal with possible underlying emotional causes of their weight problems, the weight will come back on and the surgery (and its inherent risks) will have been for naught. Some sort of counseling and lifestyle/diet coaching should be mandatory for teens undergoing this procedure.
I do not understand how this by pass cures diabetes? If you have to diet after the surgery why not just diet before and save yourself all this stress and pain. It does not make any sense to me.
As an older person who dieted all my life and still ended up with Type 2 diabetes – and also had Gastric Bypass, which stopped it in its tracks, I am all for doing whatever it takes to get rid of the damage that diabetes does to the body as early as possible. What people don’t realize is that diabetes contributes a disease called “Fatty Liver” and a host of other debilitating problems. Why does this surgery work to eliminate diabetes? Number one is that it changes the manner in which food is absorbed by the body. It also forces an elimination of most sugar and a lot of carbohydrates from the diet. It helps people lose weight and naturally become more active because they are looking at life from a different perspective.
I definitely think weight loss surgery should be available to teens. As someone who was seriously overweight as a teen and beyond, I know that my life could have been much different had this option been available to me earlier. I have had the Lap Band (about 4 1/2 years ago) and have had no regrets. The band, as well as this other type of WLS, create a smaller stomach which means you HAVE to slow down and eat smaller portions — something that is not so easy to do without the smaller stomach pouch. I seriously doubt that anyone is going to have WLS without dieting or attempting to diet beforehand. These diseases are killers — the surgery is lifesaving. I have an 8 year old grandson who is extremely overweight, and I hope that this option is available to him when he gets older (say 16 or above), if his weight is still an issue by then.
BTW, no one should ever think that weight loss surgery, of any kind is an easy way out. One thing I’ve learned is that you can easily gain weight after weight loss surgery if you choose to eat the starchy and sugar carbs. Somehow, chocolate and ice cream are easy to get through the smaller stomach opening — although the type of surgery in this article makes consuming sugar foods very unpleasant — extreme diarrhea from what I’ve.
No one can understand what it is like to be overweight and to diet unless they have been there — I’m not talking about those who need to lose 5 to 20 pounds. I’d bet the people who answered “no” to this pole have no idea what a struggle lifelong weight problems are — there is no easy way to lose weight. Weight loss surgery is a tool, not magic.
Rosie
There is no easy weight loss, even the surgery which admittedly has improved greatly since my failed surgery 27 years ago. The failure rate is now 1-2%. The surgery has long term results, but it impacts on many other health issues and proceedures. Endoscopy for gastric issues is very difficult; I still can’t vomit once the food passes the surgery constriction and there have been times I wished I could; I still have to chew carefully & watch the size of pills or I have pain and acid reflux can be an big issue. The surgery will fix nothing if the person still drinks their sugar and eats high fat foods that pass easily through the “stomach”.
Type II Diabetes is caused by more than diet, though that is our primary tool for control. I have been amazed at the number of drugs that worsen or cause diabetes (beta blockers for an example). The use of MSG in all our processed foods (it has many names to hide it)certainly contributes to this epidemic problem. MSG is given to infant rats and mice to created obese animals for testing. The chemical Alloxan, that is used to make white flour is known to cause diabetes. Then there is enviromental factors such as exposure to benzenes. Food and Drug Administration has known for almost 15 years that potassium benzoate and sodium benzoate react with ascorbic acid to form benzenes. Potassium benzoate, sodium benzoate and ascorbic acids are all commonly used to preserve freshness in soft drinks. Successfully protecting ourselves and controlling diabetes is a challenge that far exceeds a surgical solution.
I imagine that my choice is already standard procedure, but I don’t think that gastric surgery should be the first line of defense against obesity and diabetes. From what I understand, anyone who is contemplating gastric surgery is supposed to have failed other more conventional methods – but maybe they don’t require that anymore? I would hope that they would insist on a monitored diet and exercise program first. Because of the absorption issues after gastric bypass, it makes me a little nervous to go to this option right away in a developing teen.