by Colin Kenny, GP, Dromore
Three per cent of severely obese individuals develop diabetes every year. Previous evidence had shown only a weak link between bariatric surgery and diabetes prevention. The current researchers selected participants from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) database and established a cohort of obese individuals without diabetes who had undergone bariatric surgery. Matched controls were selected from obese individuals without diabetes. The study identified 2167 obese people and matched these individuals according to age, BMI, sex, index year, and HbA1c category with 2167 controls who had not had surgery. Median duration of follow-up was 2.8 years, with a maximum of 7 years of follow-up.
There were 38 new diagnoses of diabetes in the bariatric surgery cohort and 177 in the controls. The risk of developing type 2 diabetes was reduced by 80% over a maximum of 7 years of follow-up. The researchers suggested that modern bariatric surgical procedures have particular effectiveness for diabetes prevention in obese people. This study adds additional evidence on the utility of bariatric surgery, on this occasion on the prevention of diabetes.
To access the full publication, click here
