What if there was a way to control blood sugar levels and fight Type 2 diabetes better than dieting, exercise, or medication? Guess what, there is!
Researchers at Pennington Biomedical Research Center have found that a type of surgery called metabolic or bariatric surgery does just that.
Winning the War with Surgery
Let’s first get this straight: this surgery is not some magic trick. It’s a procedure that can help people who are struggling with their weight.
Now, back to the exciting part: in a study that went on for up to 12 years, this surgery showed better results in controlling blood sugar levels than diet, exercise, and medication.
Plus, it helped patients stop taking as many medications and even put Type 2 diabetes into remission!
The Mighty Study
So, how do we know this? Well, the researchers studied over 250 people for a really long time (up to 12 years).
That’s the most significant number of people ever studied for this long to compare these two ways of treating Type 2 diabetes.
And guess what, the study even got a shoutout at a big conference held by the American Diabetes Association.
A Strong Message from the Experts
“The longer we looked, the clearer it became that surgery helps put Type 2 diabetes into remission,” said John Kirwan, the study’s principal investigator.
He also said the study showed how long the good effects of surgery can last and why some people’s diabetes might come back.
An Inside Look at the Study
From 2007 to 2013, the researchers picked 262 people with Type 2 diabetes to take part in the study. They divided them into two groups.
One group had the surgery, and the other group tried controlling their diabetes with diet, exercise, and medication.
After about 11 years, the researchers checked in on them. They found that the people who had the surgery had lower blood sugar levels, lost more weight, and had higher rates of diabetes remission than the diet and exercise group.
Surgery: The New Hope
“This study gives us confidence that metabolic and bariatric surgery works really well for weight loss and diabetes control,” said Dr. Philip Schauer from Pennington Biomedical.
He added that the surgery is safe and that the good results are well established for people who haven’t been able to reach their health goals with diet, exercise, and medication.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies that not all whole grain foods could benefit people with type 2 diabetes, and green tea could help reduce death risk in type 2 diabetes.
For more information about nutrition, please see recent studies about unhealthy plant-based diets linked to metabolic syndrome, and results showing Mediterranean diet could help reduce the diabetes risk by 30%.
The study was published in Diabetes Care.
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