Obesity surgery tends to benefit teens more than adults: Study

Obesity surgery tends to benefit teens more than adults- Study

Teenagers, who undergo obesity surgery, tend to lose nearly the same amount of weight like the adults, who undergo the operation, and are also more likely to not suffer from health issues like high blood pressure and diabetes, finds a study.

The lead author of the study, Dr Thomas Inge from the University of Colorado, decided to determine if it is safer or better to undergo the surgery in mid-life, before several health issues appear due to obesity.

Hence, he and his team of researchers carried out the study, which was presented at the Combating Childhood Obesity conference in Houston. They compared results of two studies based on gastric bypass surgery among 161 teenagers as well as 396 adults who were obese during their teen days. The findings showed that after 5 years of their surgeries, both these groups lost 26 to 29 percent weight.

Blood pressure went into remission among 68 percent teens and 41 percent adults while diabetes did the same among 86 percent teens and 53 percent adults.

Obesity surgery is the last resort considered for people who are unable to lose enough of weight via other means like exercise, diet as well as medicines or are severely obese.

However, the researchers say that there is still a need of a comprehensive study to determine the lifetime effects the surgery has and that it is a personal decision of the person whether as well as when they should try it.

The study appears in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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