Curing Type 2 Diabetes: Surgical Vs. Non-Surgical Weight Loss
The April 27, 2011 issue of Science Translational Medicine included a study titled “Differential Metabolic Impact of Gastric Bypass Surgery Versus Dietary Intervention in Obese Diabetic Subjects Despite Identical Weight Loss.”
Melissa Bagloo, MD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Surgery at the Center for Metabolic and Weight Loss Surgery, NYP/Columbia, explains the context and importance of this study.
Q: What did this study find?
Dr. Bagloo: For years, surgeons have observed that gastric bypass surgery cures diabetes in over 80% of patients with diabetes. This improvement in blood sugar levels happens almost immediately after surgery, and far before any significant weight loss occurs. What’s more, studies have found that when patients lose the same amount of weight through diet as other patients lose after surgery, those who had surgery experience significantly better improvement in their diabetes than those who lost weight non-surgically. So we know surgery dramatically improves or resolves diabetes, but we do not know why this happens.
This recent study in Science Translational Medicine found an important clue as to why this effect may occur. The researchers found that Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Columbia University Department of Surgery Blog*