Today, diabetes represents a real and dangerous health threat, especially for overweight and obese men, women and children. But a growing body of research may offer hope in the form of a surgical solution — weight loss surgery, specifically — to this global health epidemic.

Researchers have found that undergoing bariatric surgery may effectively eliminate ALL signs of type 2 diabetes. Bariatric surgery’s benefit for type 2 diabetes mellitus was the subject of a study recently published in The American Journal of Medicine. The meta-analysis, comprised of 621 studies from 1990-2006, showed that 78.1% of diabetic patients experienced complete resolution. In addition, the 86.6% of the patients’ diabetes improved or was resolved after undergoing bariatric surgery. Type 2 diabetes mellitus has been found to be directly influenced by obesity. The primary risk factor for this disease is obesity, and 90% of all patients are overweight or obese.

Understanding the Surgical Procedures’ Findings
The involved studies were far-reaching, and involved 135,246 patients.  Of these, 3188 patients experienced resolution of both the clinical and laboratory manifestations of type 2 diabetes. 11,175 patients reported both weight loss and diabetes resolution; these were completely separate from the 4,070 diabetic patients involved in those studies.

    These patients were categorized by the surgical method they underwent: laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, gastroplasty, gastric bypass, and biliopancreatic diversion/duodenal switch (BPD/DS). The results were as follows: gastric banding (56.7% resolution); gastroplasty (79.7%); gastric bypass (80.3%); and BPD/DS (95.1%).
    Two years later, the resolutions were as follows: gastric banding (58.3% resolution); gastroplasty (77.5%); gastric bypass (70.9%); and BPD/DS (95.9%).
    As for the percent excess weight loss, the resolutions were: laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (46.2%); gastroplasty (55.5%); gastric bypass (59.7%); and BPD/DS (63.6%).

“This systematic review and meta-analysis demonstrate that bariatric surgery has a powerful treatment effect in morbidly obese persons with type 2 diabetes; 82% of patients had resolution of the clinical and laboratory manifestations of diabetes in the first 2 years after surgery, and 62% remained free of diabetes more than 2 years after surgery (80% and 75% for the total group),” states Henry Buchwald, MD, PhD, Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota. “Randomized clinical trials comparing surgery and medical therapies for type 2 diabetes are urgently needed. Considering the potential benefits for millions of people, such trials should assess the risk/benefit ratio of surgery in less obese (BMI 30-35 kg/m2) populations, as well as in the morbidly obese (BMI>35 kg/m2) population.”
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