posted 10/24/02
Most people with type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese. Researchers say helping these individuals lose weight to better control their disease has been difficult. Medical weight loss programs, medications and behavior therapy have not been successful. Now new research shows surgery may be the answer.
In a new study, researchers focused on two types of surgeries. The first type is restrictive surgery, where a small pouch at the top of the stomach restricts food intake. The pouch holds about an ounce of food and expands to two to three ounces over time. The second category included operations that were not only restrictive but also had elements of malabsorption. These surgeries include the small pouch but have another element. Experts say the second category of surgeries allows the patients to eat less and not feel deprived.
Researchers from UCLA analyzed journal articles and textbooks on different bariatric surgeries over the last 40 years. They found surgery has proven to be a much more successful method of weight loss and diabetes control in the obese population. Furthermore, the surgeries have been proven safe, with only a 0 percent to 1.5 percent mortality rate.
When looking at the two different categories of surgeries, researchers report both improved diabetic control by decreasing food intake and body weight over time. However, the study reports the second category of surgeries proved to be superior for weight loss and resolution of diabetes. Researchers say this could be explained because they allow the patients to eat less.
Researchers say minimally invasive methods of obesity surgery are rapidly developing and could prove to be beneficial to patients. They say a clinical trial comparing the two types of procedures needs to be conducted in obese patients with diabetes.
Source: Ivanhoe Newswire: Archives of Surgery, 2002;137:1109-1117.
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