Weight loss surgery claimed to be best treatment for obese diabetics

The findings from two new studies have claimed that weight loss surgery offers the best treatment for people with type 2 diabetes who are also obese.
The research, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that bariatric surgery was able to improve glycaemic control better than the best optimal medical therapy alone for obese patients with type 2 diabetes.
In one trial, haemoglobin A1c levels were normalised to under 6 per cent after the first year for 42 per cent of people who had received the gastric bypass surgery, as compared with only 12 per cent for those on intensive medical therapy alone. For another trial, after two years diabetes was seen to go into remission with fasting glucose under the 100 mg/dL mark and HA1c being under 6.5 per cent for those off medication.
In another unblinded trial, 60 participants with diabetes for at least five years, a body mass index (BMI) of more than 35 and an HA1c of 7.0% or more who received a gastric bypass were shown to have a 7.5 times better chance of diabetes remission by two years.
An editorial in the journal commented that “the success of various types of bariatric surgery suggests that they should not be seen as a last resort. Such procedures might well be considered earlier in the treatment of obese patients with type 2 diabetes.”