Bariatric Surgery Could Drastically Reduce Diabetes Risk In Obese Patients

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Undergoing weight loss surgery could reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in obese patients by up to 80 percent, according to new research published in Monday’s edition of the journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.
In the study, King’s College London public health professor Martin Gulliford and his colleagues examined the impact of undergoing bariatric surgery such as gastric bypass or gastric banding had on the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in adults who were categorized as obese (having a body-mass index of at least 30kg/m2).
Using electronic health records from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink, they identified 2,167 obese adults who did not have diabetes and who had undergone one of three surgical procedures (laparoscopic adjustable banding, sleeve gastrectomy, or gastric bypass) for weight loss since 2002. Each participant was monitored for a period of up to seven years, and during that time, 38 new diagnoses of diabetes were reported in those patients.
In comparison, 177 new cases of diabetes were recorded in control patients – meaning that in direct comparison, diabetes incidence was reduced by about 80 percent in participants who had surgery, even after controlling for other important factors including smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, the study authors reported.
“Our results suggest that bariatric surgery may be a highly effective method of preventing the onset of new diabetes in men and women with severe obesity,” Professor Gulliford said in a statement Monday. “We need to understand how weight loss surgery can be used, together with interventions to increase physical activity and promote healthy eating, as part of an overall diabetes prevention strategy.”
In a commentary linked to the new study, Dr. Jacques Himpens from Saint Pierre University Hospital in Brussels, Belgium, said, “Although the results… bring us a step closer to confirming the effect of bariatric surgery on the incidence of de-novo type 2 diabetes, many questions still remain unanswered, and more evidence is needed to convince endocrinologists about the nature of this effect.”
According to BBC News online health editor James Gallagher, about 8,000 UK residents each year receive the treatment, which is available from the National Health Service (NHS) only to treat people with potentially life-threatening obesity, and only then when other treatments have failed. He added that the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence is considering expanding obesity surgery in order to reduce type 2 diabetes rates.
“Current guidance says surgery is a possible option for people with a BMI above 35 who have other health conditions. But new draft guidelines argue much thinner people should be considered on a case by case basis and those with a BMI of 35 should automatically considered for surgery,” he said. “Diabetes UK says around 460,000 people will meet the criteria for an automatic assessment under the guidance.”
In addition to the King’s College London Department of Primary Care and Public Health Sciences, researchers from the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London, Whittington Hospital, St. George’s Hospital, and the London School of Economics and Political Science were also involved in the new study. The work was funded by the UK National Institute for Health Research.
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