According to newly published research, weight loss surgery appears to be the most successful treatment for diabetes. When combined with moderate lifestyle change programs, bariatric surgery helped roughly a third of patients in a recent study send their type 2 diabetes into full or partial remission.

Several years ago, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center recruited 61 type 2 diabetes patients to participate in a treatment study.

The participants were divided into three groups. One group had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, combined with two years of participation in a "low-level" lifestyle changes program, featuring moderate tweaks in diet and exercise habits.

The second group had laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, a different type of weight loss surgery, followed by two years of low-level diet and exercise changes. The third group participated in a more intense weight loss program, followed by two years of the same low-level program that the first to groups participated in.

At the end of the study, more than 40 percent of the first group had sent their diabetes into full or partial remission -- defined as improved glucose control, as well as weight loss and a diminished reliance on diabetes medications.

Researchers found that 29 percent of the second group had also sent their diabetes into remission, while none of the third group were able to make a significant dent in combating their diabetes symptoms.

"Among obese participants with T2DM, bariatric surgery with 2 years of an adjunctive low-level lifestyle intervention resulted in more disease remission than did lifestyle intervention alone," researchers concluded in the paper, published Wednesday, July 1, in JAMA Surgery.

The study also found that the positive results held for at least three years. Scientists are now working on confirming the findings and better understanding exactly how long the positive changes last.
Source: UPI