Type 2 Diabetes

Weight-loss surgery using gastric banding can reverse type 2 diabetes in obese people..

Obese individuals who underwent the procedure were more than five times more likely to see their diabetes resolve than people who relied on lifestyle changes alone, Dr. John B. Dixon of Monash University in Melbourne and colleagues report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"This study presents strong evidence to support the early consideration of surgically induced loss of weight in the treatment of obese patients with type 2 diabetes," Dixon and his team conclude.

They randomly assigned 60 obese people with type 2 diabetes to undergo adjustable gastric banding surgery and a lifestyle modification program, or the lifestyle modification program alone.

Seventy-three percent of the patients who underwent surgery had a complete remission of their diabetes within two years, compared to 13 percent of the lifestyle-only group.

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