Gastric Bypass, a Solution for Diabetes

Obesity is one of the root causes of diabetes. An overweight person is more likely to become diabetic when compared to a person with normal weight every other factor remaining the same. For those who are extremely obese where their weight goes onto touch alarming levels the only solution that possibly remains is a gastric surgery. A gastric surgery is wherein the surgeon stitches up a portion of the stomach so as to reduce the food intake of the individual. Reduction in food would lead to reduction in weight. A new study has found that the weight loss that takes place due to the gastric surgery can control Type2 diabetes to a large extent. People also feel that it is the hormonal changes that take place during surgery which controls the blood sugar but that is not the case. The weight loss that happens within the first 6 months of surgery is the key to diabetes control. The metabolic effect that the surgery has on the body plays a significant role in controlling the disease.

Doctors studied a number of patients who were severely obese and also diabetic. All the patients who had the gastric surgery showed improvement in their blood sugar levels and also the drugs used by many was reduced to a large extent but only those who had lost a considerable amount of weight had an absolute remission of the disease. This showed that the weight loss in the first 3 weeks of surgery to about 6 months was the most significant factor in controlling diabetes through gastric bypass. Apart from this the hormones also play a role. The patient may lose weight in the initial phase but that does not mean that they can reduce their diabetes medication immediately after surgery. The relation between weight loss and diabetes is that the faster one loses weight and the more weight one loses the chances of the disease going into remission is far greater. This goes to show that if the surgeons are in a position to increase the weight loss in the initial phase after the surgery using medication, the chances of more number of patients having a good control over their illness increases. Research is ongoing to find ways to achieve this so as to gain a control over this disease. Obesity has a big role to play in diabetes; similarly weight loss has a major role in controlling the illness.