Posted on 02/09/2010 7:29:12 PM PST by NormsRevenge
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Severely obese teens who had surgery to limit what they could eat lost more weight and enjoyed more health benefits than those who did an intensive lifestyle program, researchers said on Tuesday.
They said 21 of 25 severely obese teens aged 14 to 18 who underwent a form of gastric banding lost more than half of their excess weight compared with just 3 out of 25 who did a diet, exercise and behavior modification program.
"In this study, gastric banding proved to be an effective intervention leading to a substantial and durable reduction in obesity and to better health," Dr. Paul O'Brien of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
O'Brien and colleagues evaluated the effectiveness of Allergan Inc's Lap-Band gastric banding treatment. The procedure involves wrapping an adjustable band around the top of the stomach, giving the patient the illusion of fullness with small meals.
Obesity, which affects nearly a third of U.S. children, has become a top White House priority with the announcement on Tuesday of President Barack Obama's plan to solve childhood obesity ..
Many studies have looked at the safety and effectiveness of weight-loss surgery, or bariatric surgery, in obese adults, but there is less evidence of its safety and effectiveness in children and teens. Gastric banding is a type of bariatric surgery.
The surgery is becoming increasingly popular as obese people struggle to lose weight and avoid the health complications that accompany the extra pounds -- such as diabetes, heart disease, joint pain and some cancers.
Teens in the O'Brien team's study had a body mass index of more than 35 and were assigned to either get the surgery or do a weight loss program. The team followed their progress for two years.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Is this why we need government health care?
Think of how much healthier they’d be if we simply put their brains into a jar.
What I don’t get is basically the gastric bypass surgery forces you to go on a very limited diet and regime. Why not just eat as though you had the surgery but skip the surgery?
Sasquatch won’t be happy with this report. Sasquatch would prefer to force diet and exercise upon the fat whitey kids.
There are also medications that can cut down on appetite. That’s not for everybody who is a bit pudgy, but it can help in especially troublesome cases.
Gastric bypass absolutely proves that eating less is the best diet.
Not a bad idea, if the ones who needed to do that would stick to it. They won’t, hence the surgery.
I thought people were gaining the weight back after banding by continuously eating throughout the day. They have constant digestive upset and acid reflux, and perhaps permanent damage to their systems. And they’re just children! Seems exercise and teaching them how to cook real, wholesome food would be better for kids. Of course, that would take some effort on the part of the parents, so that’s probably not going to work. Better to let the government handle it.
I've read that there is a correlation between the introduction of "fat free" foods in our diets in the 1980's and the onset of extreme obesity in children and adults. Makes sense - they removed the fat and replaced it with sugar. And most kids get NO exercise. Except punching a keyboard or watching television.
I ran into a lady the other day who was moderately overweight. She lamented her condition and said she'd better lose weight if she wanted her knee joints to not grow worse.
She added that she'd had gastric bypass surgery in the past, but had undone the weight loss because she had not changed her eating habits.
That's frightening: to have one's guts cut up and rearranged, then not learn new eating habits, then gain the weight back, plus more...
Sorry, I'd rather stick with a gradual and natural modification of eating habits and forego any surgery. I like having a GI tract that's truly intact.
I haven't done extensive research into this but if memory serves correctly gastric bypass cures diabetes (type II) and insulin resistance almost immediately. There may be something about just manipulating the stomach that causes the body to help the dieter biochemically. Though some surgeons I talk to feel it is the reduced caloric intake that has the positive benefits I don't know of any research that indicate this is the case (I haven't looked that hard either). There are also some studies that liposuction improves blood lipid profiles as well. I'm not advocating surgery but there is certainly a biochemical process at foot here that we don't understand that well. My sense is that once we have discovered the process we will not need the surgery and will be able to treat obesity medically.
As Nixon said, “When you’ve got ‘em by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.”
“Why not just eat as though you had the surgery but skip the surgery?”
Because this way the patient does not feel hungry all the time.
I took off a lot of weight “the old fashion” way several times. Once I get down to a certain point, and NOT where I should be, I become ravenously hungry ALL THE TIME and absolutely miserable.
You try living with that 24 hours a day, and I guarantee you will end up putting weight back on.
I just gave up and now I am about 40 pounds over weight but I don’t get heavier and I am not miserable every waking moment.
Newsflash for all the weight cops on FR: not everyone is built or functions the same way YOU do.
Yes, I’d be interested in the long term lifespan stats on these banded teens.
Who paid for this “study”?
True, Nik, who gets to decide what “normal” is?
Our priest had it done about 8 weeks ago, he hasn’t had to have insulin since day one.
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