Can obesity surgery cure diabetes?
Those affected, doctors and scientists ask themselves this question. Studies show that obesity surgery can have a positive effect on patients with type II diabetes. What is the secret of this improvement and how does diabetes behave in the long-term study after the operation?
Obesity surgeries to get diabetes under control?
Intended as an aid for extremely overweight people with a BMI over 40, there has been the possibility for a few years of using a gastric bypass to switch off part of the digestive system and to help those affected with weight loss. As part of these interventions, many people were operated on who had type 2 diabetes, among other things because they were overweight. As a positive side effect of this operation, studies show that there was a significant improvement in values in a short time. 40 to 50 percent of the insulin-dependent patients were able to do without the use of insulin injections and medication after the operation. The blood sugar level improved rapidly.
Long-term studies based on this fact showed that after 15 years, 30 percent of those operated were able to benefit from this effect. Other patients have had to be re-titrated to insulin over time. A permanent solution to the problem is therefore not available for all those affected. Nevertheless, obesity surgery achieves a sometimes massive improvement in type 2 diabetes and significantly increases the patient’s life expectancy.
How is the effect created?
It is currently not clear why there is a significant improvement in blood sugar levels after obesity surgery. In a gastric bypass operation, part of the digestive tract is switched off and the food pulp arrives more quickly in the lower intestinal tract. During digestion, over 50 different messenger substances and hormones are released. These messenger substances influence the metabolism. They ensure or prevent the release of insulin. When part of the digestive tract is excluded, as can be the case with bariatric surgery, a few neurotransmitters appear to be overproduced. The production of other substances is minimized. The messenger substances and hormones that influence the improvement in insulin levels have not yet been clearly isolated. The connection is from a scientific point of view, the actual trigger is currently unknown.
Conclusion
Bariatric surgery has a positive effect on type 2 diabetes and can help patients who are unable to achieve acceptable blood sugar control to get out of the diabetic spiral with all its negative consequences. It should be considered as the last alternative.