In a position paper the International Diabetes Federation claims that the rate of growth of type 2 diabetes, coupled together with obesity is rapidly approaching an epidemic. By undergoing weight loss surgery, many complications and comorbidities can be reduced or even eliminated.
The push for weight loss surgery in some patients is contra to earlier prevaling consensus where weight loss surgery was considered a last resort option for obesity. Now bariatric surgery is presented in a new, favorable light. They also suggest that even if you don't have type 2 diabetes, but are at risk of developing the disease, weight loss surgery may be your best option.
"Bariatric surgery for severely obese people with type 2 diabetes should be considered much earlier in management rather than held back as a last resort," wrote George Alberti, a professor at the Imperial College of London. "It should be incorporated into type 2 diabetes treatment protocols."
The recommendations of the paper could have implications for a large segment of the population. Nearly 80 million people in the U.S. can be considered to have pre-diabetes, a condition that often develops into type 2 diabetes. Bariatric surgery may help many of them avoid this fate.
