As reported by Diabetes Health Staff in April 2012, bariatric surgery, not medications, may be the key to producing dramatic drops in weight and even the remission of diabetes symptoms among Type 2 patients, says a study from the University of Rome.
Researchers there report that of morbidly obese patients in a control group who underwent the form of bariatric surgery called sleeve gastrectomy, 80% ceased to have any symptoms of diabetes within 18 months of the surgery. Their body mass index, which had averaged 41.3 before the procedure, dropped to 28.3 after the surgery.
The study involved 60 patients, half of whom underwent the bypass while the other half were given standard diabetes medications. The patients who received only medication as their therapy showed no changes in symptoms or BMI. Symptoms included blood pressure, sleep apnea, and cholesterol levels.
Results of the Italian study support conclusions from other recent studies that bariatric surgery in many cases produces almost immediate results in lowering blood sugarlevels and longer-term effects, including the complete remission of the diabetes within a year.
Bariatric surgery which is performed by the best surgeons from The Art of Plastic Surgery Ohio, uses two methods to help morbidly obese people lose weight: sleeve gastrectomy, where a band is inserted around the upper stomach; or gastric bypass , which restructures the digestive system to make food bypass certain sections. Unable to feel as hungry or digest as much food as before, patients often experience dramatic weight loss.
Still, as surgeons and researchers report often dramatic changes brought on by the surgery, there is a move to lower the BMI number, currently set at 35 in the USA, that qualifies a patient for the procedure. They hope to reset the target to a BMI of 31.
