More Weight Loss, T2DM Remission With Bariatric Surgery

Score Predicts Diabetes Remission After Gastric Bypass
Score Predicts Diabetes Remission After Gastric Bypass
For obese patients, bariatric surgery is associated with greater body weight loss and with higher remission rates of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome compared with non-surgical treatment.

(HealthDay News) – For obese patients, bariatric surgery is associated with greater body weight loss and with higher remission rates of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome compared with non-surgical treatment, according to research published online Oct. 22 in BMJ.

Victoria L. Gloy, PhD, from the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland, and colleagues conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to quantify the overall effects of bariatric surgery vs. non-surgical treatment for obesity. Eleven eligible randomized trials, including 796 individuals with a body mass index of 30kg/² or more and with six or more months of follow-up, were included in the meta-analysis.

The researchers found that participants randomized to bariatric surgery lost more body weight than those randomized to non-surgical treatment (mean difference, −26kg). In addition, they had a higher remission rate of type 2 diabetes (relative risk, 22.1 in a complete case analysis; 5.3 in a conservative analysis) and of metabolic syndrome (relative risk, 2.4 and 1.5, respectively). There was also a greater decrease in plasma triglyceride concentrations and a greater increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations with surgery. No cardiovascular events or death were reported after bariatric surgery. The most common adverse events were iron deficiency anemia and reoperations.

“Compared with non-surgical treatment of obesity, bariatric surgery leads to greater body weight loss and higher remission rates of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical, medical device, and weight loss industries; one author holds a patent for a medical device to enhance weight loss.

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