Weight-Loss Surgery and Type 2 Remission
Weight-loss surgery is an increasingly common treatment for obesity and offers additional benefits for some people with type 2 diabetes. Most people experience improvements in blood glucose control after surgery, and even experience remission of type 2 diabetes in some cases. To look at longer-term effects, a study included 217 severely obese people with type 2 diabetes whose average body mass index was 49 (a person who is 5-foot-5 and weighs 295 pounds would have a BMI of 49). The participants had weight-loss surgery between 2004 and 2007. Six years later, 24 percent were in complete diabetes remission (A1C of less than 6 percent without diabetes medication), while an additional 26 percent had partial remission (A1C of 6 to 6.4 percent without diabetes medication). The health improvements were strongest among those who’d had diabetes for less than five years at the time of surgery.
Source: Annals of Surgery, published online Sept. 19, 2013