Diabetes, defined as high blood sugar, is a metabolic disorder, meaning the bodys way of using digested food for growth and energy.
What is the Surgical Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes?
Diabetes, defined as high blood sugar, is a metabolic disorder, meaning the body’s way of using digested food for growth and energy. If left uncontrolled, diabetes can be life-threatening and associated with long-term complications that can affect every system and part of the body. Diabetes is divided into different types based on various causes. Type 2 diabetes is by far the most common, representing 80% to 90% of diabetes cases worldwide.
Surgical Interventions for Type 2 Diabetes
For most people who are overweight or obese but not morbidly obese, diet and exercise are often the best and safest way to reduce weight and health risks. However, for men over 100 pounds or women over 80 pounds, bariatric or weight loss surgery has been shown to be the most effective treatment. For an obese person with at least one comorbidity, such as morbidity or Type 2 diabetes, the risk of worsening health problems or premature death is significantly higher.
Non-surgical treatments such as diet change, exercise programs, medications, and social support programs have generally been ineffective in the treatment of severe obesity, with relapse rates of up to 90%, regardless of the approach used. Many may lose weight temporarily, but then regain it. There are currently no effective pharmacological agents to treat obesity.
Bariatric surgery is now considered the treatment of choice to achieve significant and permanent weight loss in morbidly obese patients. Bariatric surgery does this by restricting food intake or interrupting the digestive process to prevent the absorption of certain calories and nutrients.
Unlike bariatric surgery, metabolic surgery focuses on controlling metabolic diseases, not just excess weight. Metabolic surgery includes diabetes surgery and obesity and metabolic syndrome surgery. It may also include weight loss surgery when it puts a significant strain on the patient’s quality of life.
Benefits of Metabolic and Diabetes Surgery
In people with severe obesity, surgery can:
- Promotes “remission” of diabetes, where blood sugar levels return to normal without medication.
- It provides a significant improvement in blood sugar, that is, blood sugar levels get more control with less medication.
- Improve metabolic disorders such as hyperlipidemia, hypertension and sleep apnea.
- It reduces the incidence of cancer.