Metabolic surgery and diabetes
Growing evidence over the past 20 years suggests that metabolic surgery is not only effective for weight loss but also as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, resulting in improvement or remission of the disease in most cases, according to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS).
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 37.3 million people have diabetes or 11.3 percent of the U.S. population. From 2001 to 2020, diabetes prevalence significantly increased among U.S. adults aged 18 and older.
Obesity is a major risk factor for developing diabetes. According to the ASMBS, about 90 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are obese or overweight (with a BMI of at least 25).
“Randomized clinical trials show metabolic surgery, particularly gastric bypass, results in complete remission or improvement of diabetes within two years for more than 90% of patients, in some cases at the time of hospital discharge and even before significant weight loss occurs,” according to the ASMBS.