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Does benefit of weight-loss surgery for patients with diabetes persist over time?

January 16th, 2018

Bottom Line: Obese adults with type 2 diabetes who underwent gastric bypass surgery continued to improve after five years at meeting a target for blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure control but that improvement seemed to lessen over time.

Why The Research Is Interesting: Reducing vascular and cardiovascular risks related to type 2 diabetes requires blood sugar control along with control of blood pressure and cholesterol. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery is effective at achieving these diabetes treatment targets but whether the effects are long-lasting is unknown. The current study reports on longer-term outcomes for participants in a randomized clinical trial after five years.

Who and When: 120 obese adults with type 2 diabetes (half underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery plus lifestyle and medical management interventions, the other half received lifestyle and medical management interventions alone); five-year follow up ended in 2016.

Study Measures: A composite measure of diabetes control: hemoglobin A_1c less than 7.0 percent, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol less than 100 mg/dL, and systolic blood pressure less than 130 mm Hg after five years.

How (Study Design): Five year follow-up of patients randomized to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery plus lifestyle and medical management interventions or lifestyle and medical management interventions alone.

Authors: Charles Billington, M.D., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and coauthors

Results: Patients who underwent gastric bypass surgery along with lifestyle and medical management interventions showed continued improvement at achieving a composite measure of diabetes control after five years but with some diminished effectiveness.

Study Limitations: Participants had diabetes for an average of nine years when they entered the study so the treatment effect on patients who had diabetes for a shorter time could be different.

Study Conclusions: While there was better achievement of diabetes control targets after five years, the effect was diminished over time so more follow-up is needed to understand if the improvement persists.

More information:
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/ … 1001/jama.2017.20813

Provided by JAMA

Citation: Does benefit of weight-loss surgery for patients with diabetes persist over time? (2018, January 16) retrieved 23 September 2025 from https://sciencex.com/wire-news/277565762/does-benefit-of-weight-loss-surgery-for-patients-with-diabetes-p.html

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