Weight-loss surgery may help prevent risk of diabetes

n a study, researchers have found that bariatric surgery reduces the long-term risk of developing diabetes by over 80 percent among people with obesity.

Conducted by Professor Lars Sjostrom, Professor Lena Carlsson and their team at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, the study observed that bariatric surgery is considerably more effective than traditional care and lifestyle changes in preventing diabetes among people with obesity.

The treatment group consisted of 1,658 subjects who had undergone bariatric surgery, while the control group consisted of 1,771 equally obese people who had received traditional care. During 15-year follow-up, 392 people in the control group and only 110 people in the treatment group developed diabetes.

“Our results show that bariatric surgery can reduce the risk of developing diabetes by more than 80 percent. This is an extremely high figure,” Professor Sjostrom said.

The study is based on an extensive study entitled Swedish Obese Subjects (SOS), which has given rise to more than 90 scientific articles and demonstrated that bariatric surgery is also highly beneficial when it comes to cancer, cardiovascular disease, total mortality and health-related quality of life.

“Both women and men benefited in terms of diabetes”, Professor Sjostrom stated, “but the degree of obesity at baseline did not affect the results.

The results of the study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).