Weight loss surgery may not be a long-term solution for many patients with type II diabetes, as was once thought. A study published in the journal Obesity Surgery found that many of the obese type II diabetics who had gastric bypass surgery did not go into remission and of those who did, a third redeveloped diabetes within five years. This is a stark contrast from what has been publicized in the past.
Some people are under the impression that you have surgery and you re cured, says Dr. Vivian Fonseca, the president for medicine and science for the American Diabetes Association. I think this offers a more realistic picture.
And regaining the lost weight is not the reason that diabetes redevelops in these individuals, although this can be a problem. The more important factor seemed to have been the length of time the patient had diabetes prior to surgery. Thus, one plausible explanation is that the pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin wear out as the disease progresses. If someone is too far advanced in their diabetes, where their pancreas is frankly toward the latter stages of being able to produce insulin, then even after losing a bunch of weight, their body may not be able to produce enough insulin to control their blood sugar, says Dr. David Arterburn, an associate investigator at the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle and lead author of the study.
Still, 44 percent of diabetics did have a long-lasting remission after surgery, the study found. And, as ACSH s Dr. Ruth Kava points out, Other conditions, such as arthritis, are still ameliorated by surgery and weight loss, and if a person loses belly fat, he or she would have a lower risk of numerous other cardiovascular conditions. I don t think that the possible return of diabetes should be used as a reason to avoid the surgery if one is severely overweight.
