A new study found out that weight-loss surgery can reverse diabetes in teenagers. The study, which was conducted at a small scale at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and five other medical centers, was published in the journal Pediatrics.

The study involved 78 teenagers who were suffering from type 2 diabetes. This type of diabetes causes the body not to respond to the hormone insulin, which helps metabolize food into energy.

Eleven of the children (aged 12 to 21) had gastric bypass surgery. After one year, all but one of the teens dropped about one-third of their body weight. The most important and surprising fact of the study was that 10 of the children were able to stop taking diabetes medication.

The 11 children that had gastric bypass, ranging from 250 to 403 pounds, lost 72 and 218 pounds in a year. The diabetes was in remission and they stopped taking medication for it.

Several other studies reached similar results: obesity surgery has benefits for adults suffering of diabetes.

However, this study wanted to focus on teenagers and the effects obesity surgery has on them. Although there is still research to do, Dr. Thomas Inge, a pediatric surgeon at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, said the findings of this study "opens the door" to weight-loss surgery as a way to treat severely obese teens suffering of Type 2 diabetes.

The importance of research in this domain is of paramount importance considering the fact that one third of the U.S. teenagers are overweight or obese. The long-term consequences of the operation for children aren’t yet known so doctors are very careful when selecting the candidates of the surgery.