Diabetes free with gastric bypass surgery

Podiatry Now, August, 2009

According to a new study presented at the 26th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), nearly 90% of morbidly obese patients with type 2 diabetes experienced diabetes resolution within the first year of gastric bypass surgery, and about 60% remained diabetes-free five to 16 years later.

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Those most likely to experience a recurrence of diabetes regained the most weight or had a more severe insulin-dependent form of diabetes prior to surgery. More than 75% of patients who were controlling their diabetes with dietary and lifestyle management and more than 65% who were using oral medications before surgery continue to be diabetes-free after gastric bypass surgery.

'The severity of the diabetes at the time of surgery and the regain of excess weight loss long term seem to determine the effects of long-term diabetes resolution after gastric bypass surgery', said James W Maher, MD, Professor of Surgery at Virginia Commonwealth University and coauthor of the study.

'This study suggests that people with type 2 diabetes and morbid obesity who get surgery before becoming insulin-dependent have the greatest chance for complete resolution and avoiding the progression of diabetes'.