Congenital leptin deficiency

Obesity that starts in childhood can be caused by a rare genetic disease called leptin deficiency, a hormone that regulates the feeling of hunger and satiety. With the lack of this hormone, even if the person eats a lot, this information does not reach the brain, and he is always hungry and that is why he is always eating something, which ends up favoring overweight and obesity.

People who have this deficiency usually show excess weight in childhood and can fight the scale for years until they discover the cause of the problem. These people need treatment that should be indicated by the pediatrician, when the disease is diagnosed until the age of 18 or by the endocrinologist in adults.

Symptoms

People who have this genetic alteration are born with normal weight, but quickly become obese during the first years of life because as they never feel full, they continue to eat all the time. Thus, some signs that may indicate this change are:

Eating large portions of food at a time; Difficulty staying more than 4 hours without eating anything; High levels of insulin in the blood; Constant infections, due to the weakening of the immune system.

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Congenital leptin deficiency is a genetic disease, so children with a family history of obesity and who have these symptoms should be taken to a pediatrician to investigate the problem and start treatment.

How to know if I have this disease

It is possible to diagnose this deficiency through the symptoms presented and through blood tests that identify low levels or complete absence of leptin in the body.

How the treatment is done

The treatment of congenital leptin deficiency is done with daily injections of this hormone, to replace what the body does not produce. With this, the patient has decreased hunger and loses weight, and also returns to adequate levels of insulin and normal growth.

The amount of hormone to be taken must be guided by the doctor and the patient and his family must be trained to give the injections, which must be given just under the skin, as is done with insulin injections for diabetics.

As there is still no specific treatment for this deficiency, the injection should be applied daily for life.

Although this medication is essential for the control of hunger and food intake, the person must learn to eat less food, eating healthy meals and exercising regularly so he can lose weight.

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Risks and Complications of Leptin Deficiency

When untreated, low leptin levels can cause complications associated with being overweight, such as:

Absence of menstruation in women; Infertility; Osteoporosis, especially in women; Delayed development during puberty; Type 2 diabetes.

It is important to remember that the sooner treatment is started, the lower the risk of complications due to obesity and the faster the patient will lose weight and lead a normal life.