Dallas bariatric surgery patients could also find relief from Type 2 diabetes

Dallas weight loss surgeons like Dr. Louis Fox know that gastric bypass surgery has helped thousands lose weight. Now there may be unexpected good news for Dallas bariatric surgery candidates also diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, one of many significant medical conditions that often accompany morbid obesity. These conditions, known as comorbidities, also include hypertension (high blood pressure), asthma, heart disease, sleep apnea and herniated disks. Diagnosis of comorbidities plays a role in identifying whether an individual is a candidate for bariatric surgery. When non-surgical weight-loss alternatives have failed, the weight loss associated with successful bariatric surgery can reduce the risk or alleviate the symptoms of these conditions and many others.

Chef Tom Haynes, a teacher at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, was set to become one of the millions living with diabetes. Haynes used to weigh in at 285 and had been diabetic for 10 years. "I had to stab myself 13 times a day with insulin," he said. Now, after undergoing gastric bypass surgery, Haynes is insulin-injection and medication-free.

Physicians and researchers are now studying the effects of gastric bypass surgery on type-two diabetes. The procedure, widely used by Dallas weight loss surgeons since around 1999, has shown signs of an unexpected side effect when performed on morbidly obese patients: Patients like Haynes who have taken insulin for Type 2 diabetes often no longer need it following the operation. Some patients experienced diabetes remission within weeks, or even days, of the surgery. The surgery, which Dallas weight loss surgeons once could only offer to people whose body mass index (BMI) was 35 or higher, is now part of a new clinical trial to observe if it can be used for people suffering from diabetes with a BMI as low as 26.

Exactly how the surgery sends diabetes into remission remains unclear. This mystery is likely one reason that the American Diabetes Association recently awarded two research grants to support new studies on how the effect bariatric surgery can have on patients with Type 2 diabetes. The American Diabetes Association Research Award Program in Bariatric Surgery in Diabetes will provide $1 million in support of two, three-year research grants. One grant will fund research to examine the effect of bariatric surgery on the development of neuropathy. The other will fund research on the impact bariatric surgery has on reducing inflammation in fatty tissue.

The surgery that changed Haynes’ life could change the lives of Dallas gastric bypass patients, too. “We know many bariatric surgery patients experience remission of Type 2 diabetes within days of having surgery, before [they] begin losing weight,” said Kenneth Sumner, Ph.D., Vice President, Worldwide Scientific Affairs for Ethicon Endo-Surgery (a co-sponsor of the award with Covidien). “Understanding why and how this happens may help us unlock new ways of treating Type 2 diabetes and other comorbidities of obesity.”