Mama June's Weight Loss Could Have Unexpected Effect on Her Eyesight

Researchers have found a correlation between weight loss surgery and improved eyesight, which could impact Mama June Shannon, who lost almost 300 pounds with the help of weight loss surgery and is legally blind.

Researchers from the University of Melbourne and Leeds Beckett University studied people before and after weight loss surgery and found that some experienced improvements to their vision.

They found that retina damage caused by obesity, hypertension, diabetes and a range of other chronic disease processes could potentially be reversed with weight loss surgery.

This news could impact Shannon of Honey Boo Boo fame, who revealed her extreme weight loss earlier this year. With the help of diet, exercise and weight loss surgery, she went from 460 pounds to a size 4 — but thanks to untreated childhood cataracts that could have been caused by genetics or obesity, the mom of four also suffers from legal blindness.

Researchers in the study analyzed 22 obese patients before and after they had bariatric surgery. They also studied 15 controls who were of similar ages as the subjects and had healthy BMIs.

They performed detailed eye examinations at the start of the study and six months after the participants' weight loss surgeries and looked for signs of obesity-related impairments in the retina.

The team found that in the six months following bariatric surgery, the obese subjects lost an average of 57 pounds while also showing improvements in the microvasculature of their retinas.

"The findings suggest obesity-related microvascular changes are reversible after bariatric surgery-induced weight loss," the authors said. "The capacity for the retinal microvasculature to improve following bariatric surgery suggests plasticity of the human microvasculature early in the disease course."

Translation? Mama June may experience an unexpected perk from her weight loss journey: improved vision!

To see if June's legal blindness subsides, we may have to wait until season two of Mama June: From Not to Hot, where the 38-year-old will explore the adult beauty pageant world.

The improved vision would come at an opportune time, as Shannon just learned that she will become a grandmother for the first time. Her 17-year-old daughter Pumpkin revealed in August that she is expecting a baby with her fiancé Joshua Efird.

Photo Credit: Instagram / @mamajuneshannon01

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