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Gastric banding plus usual care improves overweight, type 2 diabetes
Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding combined with usual medical care was more effective than medical care alone in people with overweight and type 2 diabetes for improvements in diabetes, HbA1c and weight loss, according to data.
“Regardless of the degree of obesity, weight loss is an incredibly powerful diabetes treatment,” John M. Wentworth, MBBS, PhD, FRACP, of the Centre for Obesity Research and Education at Monash University in Australia, told Endocrine Today. “Our study shows dramatic glycemic and quality of life benefits from weight loss that are commensurate with those observed in obese cohorts.”
Wentworth and colleagues evaluated 45 people with overweight (but not obesity) and type 2 diabetes randomly assigned to laparoscopic adjustable gastric band surgery combined with medical care (n = 22) or medical care alone (n = 23) to determine the benefits of surgery on health outcomes over 5 years.
Overall, average weight loss was greater in the surgery group (12.2%) compared with the medical care alone group (1.8%) during the 5-year study.
Diabetes remission occurred in more participants in the surgery group (23%) compared with the medical care alone group (9%) during the study period. Participants in the surgery group required use of fewer glucose-lower medications and experienced a greater decrease in HbA1c compared with the medical care alone group.
Composite scores of physical and mental health increased more in the surgery group compared with the medical care alone group during the study period.
Participants in the medical care alone group experienced more adverse events (n = 72) compared with the surgery group (n = 63).
“In my view, we need to elevate weight loss surgery up the list of treatment options for type 2 diabetes,” Wentworth said. “Obviously, this carries a resourcing issue that needs to be discussed.” – by Amber Cox
For more information:
John M. Wentworth, MBBS, PhD, FRACP, can be reached at wentworth@wehi.edu.au.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.