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TUESDAY, Nov. 24, 2020 (HealthDay News)<\/p>\n
Sleeve gastrectomy, a procedure used to help obese<\/a> people lose weight<\/a>, may damage the bones of teen patients, a new study finds.<\/p>\n “Childhood obesity<\/a> is a major public health issue that has increased over the last 10 years,” said researcher Dr. Miriam Bredella, a professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School. “Sleeve gastrectomy is the most common bariatric surgery procedure performed in children and adults.”<\/p>\n In the procedure, about 75% of the stomach is removed to reduce how much someone can eat.<\/p>\n “In adults, bariatric surgery can have long-term effects on bone, leading to higher fracture<\/a> risk,” Bredella noted, saying the researchers wanted to focus on teens<\/a> “during the crucial years when bone mass is being accrued.”<\/p>\n For the study, researchers examined 52 obese<\/a> teens<\/a>, 26 of whom had a sleeve gastrectomy.<\/p>\n Before and a year after surgery, patients had a CT scan<\/a> of the lumbar spine, to measure the amount of bone mineral density<\/a>. Patients also had a proton MR spectroscopy to look at bone marrow fat.<\/p>\n Patients who had the procedure lost a significant amount of weight, but also had a significant increase in bone marrow fat and a decrease in bone density<\/a> in the lumbar spine, the researchers found.<\/p>\n “Adolescents who underwent sleeve gastrectomy had bone loss and an increase in bone marrow fat, despite marked loss of body fat,” Bredella said. “While weight-loss surgery is successful for weight loss<\/a> and improving metabolic disorders, it has negative effects on bone.”<\/p>\n Loss of bone density<\/a> was expected, she said. Other effects of the surgery include disruption of hormones and nutrients important for bone health.<\/p>\n The findings were to be presented Tuesday at the virtual annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America. Such research is considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.<\/p>\n “We need to identify mechanisms that will help prevent bone loss in these patients and to make adolescents with obesity<\/a> more aware of bone health,” Bredella said in a meeting news release. “Adolescence is the critical time for bone mass accrual, and any process that interferes with bone accrual during this time can have dire consequences later in life.”<\/p>\n For more on weight-loss surgery, head to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.<\/a><\/p>\n SOURCE: Radiological Society of North America, news release, Nov. 24, 2020<\/p>\n Steven Reinberg<\/p>\n![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
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