A new study has revealed that bariatric surgery is a highly effective and durable treatment for type 2 diabetes in obese patients.
According to the researchers, the procedure enables nearly all surgical patients to be free of insulin and many to be free of all diabetic medications three years after surgery.
The researchers said that bariatric surgery patients experienced an improvement in quality of life and a reduction in the need for cardiovascular medications to control blood pressure and cholesterol compared to those receiving medical therapy.
It was found that the patients in the surgery groups used less cardiovascular and glucose-lowering medications.
Sangeeta Kashyap, endocrinologist at Cleveland Clinic's Endocrinology and Metabolism Institute, said that at the three year mark, more than 90 percent of the patients who underwent bariatric surgery were able to lose 25 percent of their body weight and control their diabetes without the use of insulin and multiple diabetes drugs.
The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
