Lap-Band surgery can be a real lifesaver for obese adolescents, helping them achieve significant weight loss and reversing the obesity-causing disorder called metabolic syndrome.
That’s according to a new study of teen obesity out of New York Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Metabolic syndrome is a combination of health issues, like: high blood pressure, insulin resistance resulting in high blood sugar, high triglyceride levels, low levels of HDL, and excessive belly fat. All these combine to boost your chances of developing cardiovascular disease or diabetes. Metabolic syndrome is probably the single largest trigger of obesity among teenagers.
And a lot of America adolescents are obese — 17%, according to the study, which looked at whether gastric banding surgery could effectively treat metabolic syndrome in teens.
Doctors examined 24 morbidly obese adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17 who underwent the Lap-Band procedure. Six months later, each of the teenagers showed a significantly lower body mass index, a smaller waist measurement, lower blood lipids, and decreased sugar levels — sure signs that the symptoms of metabolic syndrome were gone.
Doctors concluded that Lap-Band surgery is the most benign and effective form of treatment for metabolic syndrome in obese teenagers. They presented their findings at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Washington, D.C.
