Diabetes mellitus type II (DMT2) is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces (Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar)

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Bariatric surgery as a treatment for diabetes

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Bariatric surgeries also lead to improvement and remission of Type II diabetes mellitus (DMT2). In the past, diabetes was considered to be a progressive and incurable disease. Treatments include weight loss and lifestyle changes for those who are overweight or obese and antidiabetic medication, including insulin. These treatments help to control T2DM but rarely cause remission of the disease. However, there is now a large body of scientific evidence showing remission of DMT2 following bariatric surgery. A large review of 621 studies involving 135,247 patients found that bariatric surgery causes improvement of diabetes in more than 85 percent of the diabetic population and remission of the disease in 78 percent. Remission of T2DM in Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is in 80 percent of patients, and the adjustable gastric band (AGB) has a remission rate of 60 percent. Other studies comparing remission of diabetes between surgeries found comparable rates between the laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) and RYGB, i.e. 80 percent.

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Improvement of diabetes with gastric banding is related to weight loss. However, with other surgeries, such as the Sleeve gastrectomy or Gastric bypass, diabetes remission or improvement occurs early after surgery – well before there is significant weight reduction. In fact, some bariatric patients with diabetes leave the hospital with normal blood sugar and without the need for antidiabetic medication.

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