People who suffer from type 2 diabetes are usually given a chance to change their lifestyle, like eating healthy and exercising regularly. This routine has been part of almost all diabetic people, however, these changes in lifestyle somehow fail to provide desired results. Scientists have been very busy searching for a remedy, and in a recent study, they discovered that bariatric surgery or weight loss surgery might somehow help in treating type-2 diabetes compared to a strict diet and exercise.

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Dr. Anita P. Courcoulas, study lead author and a general and bariatric surgeon, and her colleagues found that the combination of 2 years of low-level lifestyle intervention and bariatric surgery have resulted in more disease remission among obese individuals who suffers from type 2 diabetes than patients who enlisted lifestyle intervention alone, The Hoops News reports.

During this new study of Dr. Courcoulas and her colleagues, they compared the progress of patient with type 2 diabetes. The first group had been part of intensive weight loss programs that included strict diet and regular exercise, while the second group underwent bariatric surgery or weight loss surgery,
The two groups received guidance counseling in making their lifestyle healthy for two years.

After three years, the researchers found that around a third of the patients in the bariatric surgery group experienced a full or partial remission, which means that most of their type 2 diabetes symptoms disappeared. Meanwhile, in the other group, not even a single person experienced remission from their lifestyle intervention.

Dr. Courcoulas, who is currently connected to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said, "One of the most important things to take away is that there is durability of remission over time."

Bariatric surgery or weight loss surgery can cause weight loss by restricting the amount of food the stomach can hold, causing malabsorption of nutrients, or by a combination of both gastric restriction and malabsorption.

The effectiveness of weight loss surgery has been used to examine people with diabetes as well as class 1 or 2 obesity, which represents a body mass index (BMI) between 30 and 39. The weight loss surgeries are usually used to treat people with a BMI of 40 or more, or with a lower BMI but have other health conditions. BMI is a measurement of weight in relation to height, according to Reuters.

But not all are impressed with the study. Dr. Osama Hamdy, the medical director of the Joslin Diabetes Center Obesity Clinical Program, said, "Any study like this we need to be very cautious when reading them and read between the lines." He added, "I'm cautious about this and people have to weigh the risks and benefits."

Dr. Hamdy was not involved in the new study, Pioneer News has learned.

TagsType 2 diabetes, Weight loss surgery, benefits, Study