A landmark study has revealed life-changing benefits for teenagers decades after weight loss surgery

A large study published today shows that teenagers who have surgery to treat severe obesity are still reaping the benefits ten years later. The study found that these people tend to keep a significant amount of weight off, while many continue to avoid obesity-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

Even on the wave of newer ones GLP-1 drugs such as semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy), bariatric surgery is still considered the most effective treatment for obesity, with patients losing up to 30% of their original weight. Research has found that these operations can also improve people’s health in many other ways, such as by putting them into remission from type 2 diabetes or reducing the risk of premature death. But that study focused almost entirely on adults, which makes the new results from this long-term study all the more important.

The Teen-LABS The study (Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery) began in 2003 and is funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). In the earlier stages of the project, researchers tracked the health of thousands of teenagers who first underwent surgery for severe obesity sometime between 2005 and 2009. In this latest study, published Wednesday in New England Journal of Medicinethey were able to look at the weight and health outcomes of 260 patients decades after surgery—something that had never really been done before.

“This is the longest adolescent study since bariatric surgery, and previous studies have lasted 5 years or less,” said lead researcher Justin Ryder, associate chief of science for surgery at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. told Gizmodo. “We can now show that the long-term effects of surgical obesity treatment in adolescents have tremendous long-term results and great success.”

Overall, the researchers found, patients maintained an average of 20% weight loss. Of those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at that time, 55% are still in remission. There was also a steady 54% reduction in high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Many other studies have found that bariatric surgery can have long-term benefits for adult patients as well. But based on these results, it appears that younger patients are more likely to experience these benefits years later (for example, rates of long-term diabetes remission are lower in adults). Ryder said this suggests that successfully treating obesity with surgery “earlier in life has its advantages.”

As with any treatment, bariatric surgery has its risks and potential downsides. There are different types of bariatric surgery, but they usually work by rebuilding a person’s digestive system, such as by removing part of a person’s stomach. As a result, people’s lifestyle, including their diet, changes dramatically after surgery. People need to make sure they get enough nutrients, for example, because certain vitamins and minerals are not easily absorbed from food. They are also more susceptible to alcohol abusebecause their stomachs are less adept at breaking it down. In addition, at least in the short term, patients may be at higher risk suicide and self harm. And some people (maybe about one in ten) will not be able to lose or regain their weight.

That being said, nearly two decades have passed since the original LABS Adolescent Study began. Since then, bariatric surgery has become safer and less invasive. So it’s possible that the positive outcomes of surgery, especially for people with severe obesity or associated conditions such as type 2 diabetes, today even outweigh the negatives.

One interesting unknown is whether these long-term benefits are transferable to other treatments. GLP-1 drugs such as semaglutide and tirzepatide are the first drugs to clearly approach the average weight loss success seen with surgery, and new drugs in the near future may even match or surpass it. Ryder cautions that it’s difficult to make any comparisons at this point because there haven’t yet been any studies directly comparing these drugs to surgery.

Both drugs and surgery have their place in the treatment of obesity, Ryder says, noting that many people who have had surgery can also benefit from drugs. Given the results of this and other studies, the main lesson is that adolescents struggling with obesity should have more access to effective treatments in general, he adds. change that other obesity experts have also begun to insist in recent years.

“It’s important to understand that both drugs and surgery need to be used more often in adolescents because the impact is much better than traditional treatments such as lifestyle changes in this population,” he said.