A new study published in New England Journal of Medicine has found that teenagers who undergo gastric bypass and other weight loss surgeries become "fit" years after the procedure. The study was conducted with 228 teenagers who undergone bariatric surgery and after three years, these teenagers had lost more than 90 pounds on average from their previous weight of almost 330 pounds. The study also found out that the effects of various obesity-related diseases such as diabetes were minimized and their health in general had been improved.
The study also suggests that weight loss procedure may also have a setback. Fifty percent of the teenagers had low iron levels while 5% already shown low iron levels from the start. Additional surgeries such as gallbladder removal were also necessary for most of the teens involved.
Severe obesity, according to studies, affect 4.4 million people in the United States. And many resort to treatments such as bariatric surgery. The major concerns for undergoing surgery are obesity-related complications such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, and stroke. In 2003, 800 cases of bariatric surgery had been performed. Six years after, the cases doubled to 1600 in 2009. And the number keeps on growing over the years.
Miranda Taylor, a nursing student in Cincinnati, who undergone the procedure said, "It's like a new life. I knew that this might not get me down to like model-size, which I wasn't concerned about. I just wanted to be able to fit into a healthy size".
Further studies need to be conducted in order to accurately measure the effects of the surgery to teenagers. But these results typically point out to bariatric surgery's ability to promote health and improve living especially for those with obesity issues. Doctors claim however, that these surgeries should be only considered when all efforts such as diet and exercise are exhausted.
