Researchers from the University of Michigan in recent research have said that, “Bariatric surgery is useful in reversing the complications of diabetes”.

The study has addressed the benefits and importance of bariatric surgery in diabetics.

The article provides details about bariatric surgery and its importance in diabetics.

What is Bariatric Surgery?

Bariatric surgery is a collective term for Gastric bypass and other weight-loss surgeries. In such types of surgeries, changes are made to the digestive system to aid in weight loss.

This is the best surgery option when diet and exercise do not work anymore and the risk of an individual to serious health conditions increase.

Bariatric surgery reduces the risk of following life-threatening weight-related health problems, including:

Cardiovascular(heart diseases)
Diabetes
Hypertension or high blood pressure
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

What are the complications of diabetes?

According to the Centres for disease control and Prevention, the following are the complications of diabetes:

Heart disease: High blood pressure, too much LDL or bad cholesterol and high triglycerides.
Chronic kidney disease
Nerve damage
Feet problems
Oral health problems
Vision loss
Hearing problems
Mental health issues

How useful is bariatric surgery in reducing complications of diabetes?

The cases of type 2 diabetes are increasing worldwide. The disease has complications like peripheral neuropathy (PN), cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN), and retinopathy.

Previous studies have suggested that bariatric surgery reduces diabetic complications.

Besides the complications of diabetes, there are other individual risk factors for the metabolic syndrome, which are comorbid with type 2 diabetes, like obesity, high blood pressure, low HDL-cholesterol and hypertriacylglycerolaemia, which are associated with PN and CAN.

Bariatric surgery improves multiple metabolic risk factors compared with other treatments. Previous studies have shown that bariatric surgery improves diabetes complications.

In a recent study by Dr Reynolds et al, the team summarised the following benefits of bariatric surgery in diabetes:

Improvement in metabolic risk factors except for BP and total cholesterol.
Mean weight loss of over 30 kg after 2 years of bariatric surgery.
Fewer individuals take anti-hypertensive medications after surgery.
Improvement in Peripheral neuropathy outcomes. There is an improvement in IENFD or intra-epidermal nerve fibre density in the proximal thigh. IENFD in the distal leg was stable.
Improvement in CAN outcomes.
Changes in fasting glucose improve retinopathy.
Improvement in quality of patient life.
Relive pain.
Relieve depression.

According to them, Bariatric surgery improves metabolic abnormalities by a greater magnitude and more sustainably, with a weight loss of 31.0 kg for bariatric surgery vs 12.4 kg for MWL. This directly improves PN and CAN.

This study also highly pointed out an important finding that for retinopathy, controlling hyperglycaemia is vital compared to controlling obesity but for PN and CAN, controlling both are essential.

Why there is an increasing preference for bariatric surgeries worldwide?

People are becoming more aware of their health and with rising awareness, they understand the risk of obesity and health-related problems.

The research mentions that there are three driving forces for choosing bariatric surgery.

To improve physical health
To achieve a better quality of life
To reduce the risk of chronic diseases

An important question here is,

What should be the qualities of bariatric surgeons preferred by the patients?

According to research analysis, patients want the following important characteristics of a bariatric surgeon:

Taking the time and listening (74.7%)
Empathy (64%)
Sympathy (56%).

Summarising benefits of minimally invasive bariatric surgery include:

Shorter recovery time
Low risk of complications
Reduced hospital stay

Considering motivation, preference and benefits, the number of bariatric surgeries is increasing worldwide.

What does bariatric surgery involve?

Experienced bariatric surgeon
Specialized instrumentation
Medical evaluation
Dietary counselling
Follow up appointments

Bariatric Surgery at Yapita Health

We have a team of experienced bariatric surgeons highly skilled in dealing with complicated cases worldwide and treating them with successful treatment outcomes.

Visit our website for more details.

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