Tag - Bariatric Surgery

Bariatric Surgery For Obesity And Type 2 Diabetes by Kevin Angileri

October 4, 2015

Research Study About Bariatric Surgery And Type 2 Diabetes

A new study is once again showing that bariatric surgery results in greater remission rates of diabetes over lifestyle changes alone.

Dr. Anita Courcoulas of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, who led the research, studied 61 people with type 2 diabetes (between 25 and 55 years old). About half of them had class 1 obesity (a BMI between 30 and 35) and the rest were heavier.

Participants were randomly placed into three groups, with different courses of action. One group participated in a lifestyle intervention, including diet, exercise and behavior changes. The other two groups had either Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), or laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB).

After three years, no one in the lifestyle intervention group had even a partial remission of their diabetes. However, 40 percent of the RYGB group and 29 percent of the LAGB group did have at least a partial remission. Three of the patients who underwent a gastric bypass and one who had the adjustable gastric banding had a total resolution of their diabetes.

The surgery groups also saw more improvement in blood sugar levels and were more likely to not need their medications anymore.

Dr. Samuel Bledsoe, a Bariatric Surgeon in Alexandria, Louisiana, agrees with the findings of this study. “This adds to the evidence that weight loss surgery is superior to medical therapy and lifestyle changes in the treatment of diabetes. It is common for patients to see improvement or complete remission in their diabetes before they even leave the hospital after their procedure.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, close to 29 million Americans have diabetes (and about 30 percent of them haven’t even been diagnosed yet). Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of the condition.

These findings should not be construed as an endorsement for anyone struggling with their weight to drop their lifestyle changing efforts and schedule an appointment for weight loss surgery. All reputable bariatric surgeons will tell you that weight loss surgery is meant to be utilized only as a last resort. If you have tried everything, and your doctor feels you make a good candidate, then surgery can be a life-saving event in many cases.

Guest Post By Dr.Samuel Bledsoe

About Samuel Bledsoe, MD, FACS

Dr. Samuel Bledsoe is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. He has been performing weight loss surgery for over 10 years and is currently practicing at Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital in Alexandria, Louisiana. He is the Medical Director of Bariatric Surgery and past Section Chief of Surgery. Dr. Bledsoe is available for presentations and interviews upon request.

by Kevin Angileri

Bariatric Surgery & Its Impact On Gut Bacteria by Kevin Angileri

September 30, 2015

Kevin Angileri

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Weight loss surgery is a life-changing event, but it may alter you in some ways that you don’t even realize.

Swedish Research on Bariatric Surgery:

A new Swedish study is suggesting that bariatric surgery may lead to long-term changes in the patient’s gut bacteria that help with weight loss after the procedure. Researchers analyzed the gut bacteria in 14 women who had bariatric surgery nearly 10 years after their procedure.

Half of the women underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, a surgery that involved the doctor creating a small pouch from the top of the stomach, connecting it directly to the small intestine. The other half of the patients had vertical banded gastroplasty, where the stomach becomes smaller by using a band and staples.

Those who underwent the gastric bypass surgery saw a greater change in their gut bacteria than the women who were severely obese, but didn’t have surgery. The women who had vertical banded gastroplasty also saw more of a change than the non-surgery group, but the differences were not deemed statistically significant.

The women who underwent gastric bypass surgery had significantly more bacteria that belongs to the genuses Escherichia, Klebsiella and Pseudomonas

“Our results suggest that the gut microbiota may play a direct role in the reduction of adiposity [body fat] observed after bariatric surgery,” wrote researchers in a recent issue of the journal Cell Metabolism.

This wasn’t the first study to connect bariatric surgery to changes in gut bacteria, but the researchers say it was the first to examine its long-term impact. Maybe the most fascinating aspect of their findings was that they took patient body mass index (BMI) into account, which suggested that the surgery itself, not the weight loss, was related to the gut bacteria change.

The researchers transplanted bacteria from obese women and those who had the surgeries into mice that did not have gut microbes. Those mice that got gut bacteria from the surgery group gained less body fat than the mice with microbes from the non-surgery group.

The health implications of gut bacteria are best known by the general public when discussing the term “probiotics,” live bacteria and yeasts that help with the digestive system. It’s a relatively new world being explored by experts and health conscious people alike.

Our GI tract has over 500 species of bacteria that help break down food, strengthen our immune system, and fight against pathogens. It’s when the ratio of good to bad bacteria is skewed that health issues may arise.

Guest Post By Dr.Samuel Bledsoe

About Samuel Bledsoe, MD, FACS

by Kevin Angileri