Weight loss surgery effective in treating Type 2 diabetes

New York, Jan 23 (UNI) Weight loss surgery may prove a better option to treat Type 2 diabetes, according to a study.

Type 2 diabetes is usually accompanied by obesity, and patients can often lessen the severity of the disease, or even get rid of it entirely, by losing about 10 per cent of their body weight. Though many people can lose that much weight, few can keep it off without surgery.

However, in patients who have more severe and longstanding diabetes, the disease may no longer be reversible, no matter how much weight is lost, the study-- published today in The Journal of the American Medical Association-- found.

Treatment of Type 2 diabetes by weight-loss surgery is not a new finding; doctors have known about it for years. But the new research is the first effort to compare scientifically how the procedure measures up against medical treatment in similar groups of patients with the disease.

The study, involving 60 patients, showed that 73 per cent of those who had surgery had complete remissions of diabetes, meaning all signs of the disease went away. But, the remission rate was only 13 per cent in those given conventional treatment.

The study reflects a growing interest among researchers in using surgery specifically to treat Type 2 diabetes, even in people who are not as obese as those who typically undergo operations to lose weight.

The new thrust is in some sense a measure of desperation, as the United States and the world face increasing rates of the disease and its devastating complications, which can include heart attacks, blindness, kidney failure and amputation, New York Times reported.

''I think diabetes surgery will become common within the next few years,'' said Dr John Dixon, the lead author of the study, said.

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