New study into benefits of bariatric surgery for diabetics

Fri, 01 Apr 2011
New research carried out by scientists in Sweden has revealed that undergoing weight loss, or bariatric, surgery can lower the risk of both heart attack and stroke for people suffering from diabetes .

The study, at the Institute of Medicine in Gothenburg, reviewed 20 years of data involving 2,010 bariatric surgeries that were compared to 2,037 non-surgical patients who had medical treatment or lifestyle modification for problems of obesity . The study showed that the risk of heart attack or stroke was 30 per cent lower for post-surgical patients than for those who did not have bariatric surgery .

Researcher Lars Sjostrom commented " Type 2 diabetes has always been considered a chronic, lifelong disease, but the long-term data show remission in 70 per cent of patients after two years of follow-up."

He added "Thirty per cent are still in remission 15 years after bariatric surgery. Even more remarkable, 20 years out, we have seen that bariatric surgery has reduced new cases of diabetes by 80 per cent among obese patients who did not have the disease at the start of the study."

The findings come after a recent study in the US recommended weight-loss surgery for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in severely obese patients. The International Diabetes Federation claimed that there is increasing evidence that obese people with type 2 diabetes can receive substantial health benefits from bariatric surgery under some circumstances.

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