According to an article published September 18th in the journal, Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy, a study conducted amongst obese patients in the United Arab Emirates concluded with similar positive results to many other bariatric surgery studies that have come before it. Overall, patients who had weight loss surgery lost an average of 68 percent of their excess weight when examined one year after surgery.

A team of researchers from Sweden say that while healthcare costs don’t rise in the years after the weight-loss surgery, this is only because type 2 diabetes patients with high blood sugar levels required less healthcare and meds after the surgery. Overall, the study found that weight loss surgery was an incredibly worthwhile investment for diabetes.

Reuters reports that according to study co-author Martin Neovius of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, “Greater weight should be given to preoperative blood sugar status to help identify the patients who have the most benefit from bariatric surgery”. Hospital costs were obviously higher for those who underwent surgery.

“Greater weight should be given to preoperative blood sugar status to help identify the patients who have the most benefit from bariatric surgery”, study co-author Martin Neovius of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm said by email. Being in poor physical condition makes people vulnerable to developing heart disease, prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancer, and joint disorders.

It is seen that one out of nine adults in the world suffer from diabetes which is of the Type 2 category which comes up when the hormone insulin is not properly used or not manufactured in enough quantity to convert the blood sugar and burn it for energy generation.

Left untreated, diabetes can lead to nerve damage, amputations, blindness, heart disease and strokes. Of course, there are many types of surgery that treat weight problems, but bariatric surgery is the most popular of them.

A growing number of extremely obese patients have turned to surgery after failing to achieve significant weight loss through diet, exercise or medication – strategies that can also manage diabetes. It has been suggested before by other research teams that patients should be treated according to the intensity of their diabetes, rather than just by their body mass index alone. However, researchers also found that for diabetics, those who did go through bariatric surgery and those who refrained, had almost the same costs after 15 years.

Dr. Feiz explains that, while it is understandable for patients to be excited by the weight of the evidence showing the benefits of bariatric surgery, it is still a serious, life-changing procedure that needs to be performed by highly capable professionals. “Patients should not have any barrier to the surgical treatment of diabetes when there are several studies that show when diabetes is not under control with medication, surgery offers good clinical and economical outcomes”.