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Weight-Loss Surgery Reverses Diabetes In Teens

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The Associated Press

Published: December 29, 2008

NEW YORK - Obesity surgery can reverse diabetes in teens, just as it does in adults, according to a small study.

All but one of the 11 extremely obese teens studied saw their diabetes disappear within a year after weight-loss surgery, the researchers reported. The 11th patient still had diabetes, but needed much less insulin and stopped taking diabetes pills.

Previous studies have shown the diabetes benefits of obesity surgery for adults. Thomas Inge, a pediatric surgeon at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and his colleagues wanted to find out if the same was true for adolescents.

Although more research is needed, Inge said the study "opens the door" to weight-loss surgery as a treatment option for severely obese teens with Type 2 diabetes.

The results are in the January issue of Pediatrics and are being released today.

About a third of U.S. youngsters are either overweight or obese. Increasing numbers of obese children are being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease and the one linked to obesity. It was seldom seen before in children.

"It's marching south through the generations, which is very scary," said Larry Deeb, a former president of the American Diabetes Association and a spokesman for the group.

Teen candidates for weight-loss surgery need to be carefully selected, he said, because the long-term consequences of the operation for children aren't yet known.

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