New funding for bariatric surgery research to help diabetes

The American Diabetes Association has awarded USD1 million to help fund research on the possible benefits of bariatric surgery for treating diabetes, it has emerged. The new research grants are going to scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Utah for studies on the effects of bariatric surgery on patients with type 2 diabetes.
The USD1 million funding will help support a study of the impact of bariatric surgery on reducing inflammation in adipose (fatty) tissue, and also research into the effect of bariatric surgery on the development of neuropathy.
R. Robert Henry, president, medicine and science at the American Diabetes Associatio, commented on the announcement “More research is needed to study the effects of bariatric surgery, particularly its implications for people with type 2 diabetes, especially with the nation’s growing epidemics of type 2 diabetes and obesity.”
He added “Research projects such as these will help further our understanding of these mechanisms.”
There has been evidence of patients that undergo bariatric surgery experiencing remission in their type 2 diabetes soon after the surgery, even prior to any weight loss, and it is hoped the research will bring a better understanding of treating type 2 diabetes and other comorbidities of obesity.