Gastric Bypass May Help Prevent Heart Disease in Teens: Study: MedlinePlus

Gastric Bypass May Help Prevent Heart Disease in Teens: Study
Cholesterol levels improved even better in young patients than adults, study found



URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_111856.html(*this news item will not be available after 08/07/2011)

By Mary Elizabeth Dallas
Monday, May 9, 2011

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Heart Diseases
Teen Health
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MONDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Adults who undergo Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery show improvement in biochemical cardiac risk factors, but teens that have the procedure may realize even greater heart health benefits, according to new research.

In Roux-en-Y surgery, a very common gastric bypass procedure, surgical connections around the bowel help decrease stomach capacity and let food bypass part of the small intestine.

The new study, slated for presentation Monday at the Digestive Disease Week conference in Chicago, analyzed 99 adults and 33 adolescents, ages 14 through 18. All of the patients underwent laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass between 2004 and 2010.

At least half of the participants already had high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and obstructive sleep apnea prior to the surgery, according to researchers from the Stanford University section of bariatric surgery.

One year after surgery, however, both the adults and the teens showed significant improvement in total cholesterol, triglycerides (a blood fat) and homocysteine levels (a blood protein that can signal heart risk).

The researchers noted, however, that after surgery the teenagers examined showed even more improvement than the adults in terms of high-density ("good") lipoprotein cholesterol. The adolescents' fasting insulin -- a marker of diabetes risk -- fell by more than 400 percent after one year.

"The findings suggest gastric bypass may improve the health-related quality of life for certain obese teens down the road. With the emerging evidence of how early heart disease starts, we have to do something for these adolescents now, before a point of no return," Dr. John Morton, director of bariatric surgery at Stanford Hospital & Clinics, said in a news release from the meeting's sponsor, the American Gastroenterological Association.

The study authors note that gastric bypass is not the only treatment for obesity. "This surgery is clearly not for every obese adolescent, and it should only be done at centers with experienced, qualified surgeons," added Morton.

Findings presented at meetings are considered preliminary since they have not undergone the rigorous peer review of data published in reputable journals.

SOURCE: American Gastroenterological Association, news release, May 9, 2011
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Gastric Bypass May Help Prevent Heart Disease in Teens: Study: MedlinePlus






Risk for Problem Drinking May Rise After Gastric Bypass
Study founds odds were nearly double compared to those who got other weight-loss procedures

URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_111855.html(*this news item will not be available after 08/07/2011)

By Mary Elizabeth Dallas
Monday, May 9, 2011

Related MedlinePlus Pages

Alcohol
Weight Loss Surgery

MONDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Could gastric bypass weight-loss surgery raise the odds for alcohol abuse afterwards?

That's the finding from a group of Swedish researchers who were slated to present their data this past Saturday at the Digestive Disease Week conference in Chicago.

A team from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm tracked more than 12,000 patients who underwent primary bariatric surgery between 1980 and 2006. The patients were matched against a control group of almost 123,000 patients from the general population.

The study found there was greater risk of hospitalization for depression, attempted suicide, substance abuse and alcoholism following weight-loss surgery. (The bariatric patients also had a greater risk than the general population of hospitalization for psychiatric disease before their weight-loss surgery.)

The researchers also found that people who undergo gastric bypass surgery, in particular, faced double the risk of inpatient treatment for alcohol abuse vs. those who have restrictive surgeries (such as stomach "stapling" and the gastric banding technique).

"Patients undergoing gastric bypass should be carefully counseled on alcohol consumption," study lead author Dr. Magdalena Plecka Ostlund said in a news release from the meeting's sponsor, the American Gastroenterological Association. "In addition, caregivers should be aware of the greater potential for alcohol abuse after surgery so treatment can be sought if problems arise."

But Ostlund also stressed that any increased risk for alcohol dependency following gastric bypass should be weighed against the numerous health benefits of the procedure.

Findings presented at meetings are considered preliminary since they have not undergone the rigorous peer review of data published in reputable journals.

SOURCE: American Gastroenterological Association, news release, May 9, 2011.

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Copyright (c) 2011 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Risk for Problem Drinking May Rise After Gastric Bypass: MedlinePlus