Tonsillectomy Often Leads to Weight Gain

August 1, 2014  21:31

Tonsillectomies are commonly done to relieve sleep apnea in children, but a new study confirms that the treatment can speed kids' weight gain -- especially if they're already overweight.

The researchers said that's a concern, because obesity is a risk factor for a range of health problems -- including, ironically, sleep apnea. But they're not advising against tonsillectomy for kids who need it.

Instead, they said, doctors and parents should be aware that a healthy diet and exercise become even more important after children have the surgery, NewsMax Health says.

Obstructive sleep apnea arises when constriction in the airways causes repeated pauses in breathing during the night. In children, the most common cause is swelling in the tonsils and adenoids -- infection-fighting tissues in the back of the throat and the nasal cavity, respectively. And surgery to remove those tissues (known technically as adenotonsillectomy) is often recommended.

There are a few possible explanations for the post-surgery weight gain. Calorie-burning may dip when children are no longer laboring to breathe during sleep. And some kids may burn fewer calories during the day because they become less active after their sleep apnea improves. (Paradoxically, poor sleep often causes children to be "hyperactive," rather than drowsy.)

Sleep apnea itself also causes metabolic changes. Growth hormone is released at night, and the sleep disorder can interfere with that. So the body may adapt metabolism in an effort to maintain a child's growth.

When the sleep apnea is relieved, they're set up for rapid weight gain. It was once common for children with sleep apnea to be underweight and have "failure to thrive". For those kids, rapid weight gain after tonsillectomy can be a good thing.

But these days, with childhood obesity on the rise, many kids with sleep apnea are already overweight or obese. If they rapidly put on pounds, their sleep apnea might return in six months to a year.

 

 

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