Search Here

Swedish researchers have suggested that weight loss surgery reduced obese patients' 10-year risk of getting type 2 diabetes by 80 percent. 

The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

Researchers followed, for 15 years, over 3,400 obese men and women who had surgery and those who did not. None of the patients were diabetic at the start of the study. 

Sixty-nine percent of the patients had stomach stapling, 19 percent had gastric banding and 12 percent had gastric bypass.

Patients who underwent surgery lost about 44 pounds. The non-surgery group ate healthier and exercised more, but stayed only within three seven pounds of their starting weight.

Ten years after the start of the study, 28 percent of the patients who did not surgery developed type-2 diabetes. Only 7 percent of those who had surgery developed the disease. 

Researchers said bariatric surgery appears to be markedly more efficient than usual care in the prevention of type 2 diabetes in obese persons. 

"Most of the previous studies on bariatric surgery have focused on the remission of diabetes. This study is more about preventing diabetes," Ted Adams of the University of Utah, who was not connected with the research, told Reuters Health.

Researchers said the results may help doctors understand why the various types of surgery work and pick out the best candidates for the operation,

According to the National Institutes of Health, weight loss surgery is appropriate only for people whose body mass index (BMI) is 40 or higher, or 35 or higher for those with a serious obesity-related condition such as diabetes or heart disease.

In this study, men had a BMI of at least 34, women, 38.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, type-2 diabetes accounts for up to 95 percent of all diabetes cases. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. Millions of Americans have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and many more are unaware they are at high risk. Some groups have a higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes than others. Type 2 diabetes is more common in African Americans, Latinos,Native Americans, and Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, as well as the aged population.

About 285 million people worldwide have type 2 diabetes and people with severe obesity have the highest risk. More than one third of U.S. adults are obese. About 220,000 people had bariatric surgery in 2009, according to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). Surgery costs range from about $11,500 to $26,000.