A new study finds that bariatric (weight loss) surgery led to prolonged remission in half of patients with type 2 diabetes for at least five years.

“The lower incidence of typical diabetes complications in this study is in line with previous findings from long-term nonrandomized studies; however, larger and ideally multicenter randomized trials are needed to definitively confirm that surgery can reduce diabetes morbidity and mortality compared to standard medical treatment”, Mingronesaid in the release.

Although not all patients were cured of their type-2 diabetes by the surgery, it did help them to easily control their sugar levels, keeping them within the recommended guidelines. Half of the patients who had initial diabetes remission did, however, experience a relapse of mild hyperglycemia five years after surgery.

The trial, conducted by researchers from King’s College London and the University Cattolica in Rome, tracked five-year outcomes of 53 obese patients with type 2 diabetes.

The new study is among the first to suggest that these benefits last over time, Rubino’s team said. Also, patients who had weight-loss surgery were less likely to have diabetes-related complications such as heart attack, stroke and kidney disease.

They added: “Surgery for diabetes seems to be safe, effective in terms of glycaemic [sugar] control, and is now associated with reduced complications of diabetes”.

The researchers noted that while people in the bariatric surgery groups lost more weight than people treated with drug therapy, weight loss alone didn’t predict whether or not diabetes would recede.

Still, doctors are increasingly referring to this type of surgery as “diabetes surgery”, rather than obesity surgery, said Dr. Philip Schauer, the director of the Cleveland Clinic Bariatric and Metabolic Institute and a bariatric surgeon, in a telephone interview with Reuters Health. The gastric bypass involves shrinking the size of the stomach, while biliopancreatic diversion is a more extensive bypassing of the intestine. Patients frequently need to take vitamin and mineral supplements for the rest of their lives as a direct outcome of the effects of surgery.

Eighty percent of patients who had surgery had their blood sugar under good long-term control, versus about 25 percent of patients treated with drugs only.

“There are some people, this study shows, that can go into remission for up to five years or more”, he said.

The surgery improves symptoms both through weight loss and by changing the way the gut functions.

“What really is causing the remission of diabetes after surgery remains mysterious”, Dr. Rubino said. Insurance coverage for the procedure depends on the insurance company.