Weight loss surgery cuts type 2 diabetes risk

Weight loss surgery, such as gastric bypass or gastric banding, could reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by around 80 per cent in obese people, compared with standard care, a new research has found.
Being overweight or obese is the main modifiable risk factor for type 2 diabetes. More than 80 per cent of adults with type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese.
Using electronic health records from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink, Martin Gulliford, Professor of Public Health at King's College London, UK, and colleagues assessed the effect of contemporary surgical weight loss procedures on the development of diabetes.

They identified 2,167 obese adults without diabetes who underwent one of three surgical procedures (laparoscopic adjustable banding, sleeve gastrectomy, or gastric bypass) for weight loss from 2002 onwards.
These participants were compared with 2,167 controls matched for age, sex, BMI, and blood glucose control (measured as HbA1c) who did not have surgery or other obesity treatments.
Participants were followed up for a maximum of 7 years (median 2.8 years).

During follow-up, 38 new diagnoses of diabetes among participants who had weight loss surgery were recorded, compared with 177 in control participants.
Compared with controls, diabetes incidence was reduced by about 80 per cent in participants who had surgery, even after controlling for other important factors including smoking, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

"Our results suggest that bariatric surgery may be a highly effective method of preventing the onset of new diabetes in men and women with severe obesity," said Gulliford.
"We need to understand how weight loss surgery can be used, together with interventions to increase physical activity and promote healthy eating, as part of an overall diabetes prevention strategy," he said.
The study was published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal.