(Press-News.org) CHICAGO, IL — Adults with Type 2 diabetes achieve better blood glucose (sugar) control two years after undergoing laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy than do patients who receive standard medical diabetes care without this weight loss surgery, a new study finds. The results were presented Monday at the joint meeting of the International Society of Endocrinology and the Endocrine Society: ICE/ENDO 2014 in Chicago.
In addition, 76 percent of surgery patients were able to reduce their use of diabetes medications, compared with only 26 percent of patients in the nonsurgical group, study authors reported.
"Individuals with obesity now have another treatment option that can help reduce weight and manage diabetes," said the study's principal investigator, Pietra Greenberg, MD, an endocrinologist at James J. Peters Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Bronx, N.Y.
Sleeve gastrectomy, a newer minimally invasive technique for making the stomach smaller, is gaining popularity, and several studies have found it is effective for weight loss. However, Greenberg said few prior studies of diabetes outcomes in diabetic patients who underwent this surgical procedure compared results with those of nonsurgically treated patients who have the disease.
She and fellow researchers compared the medical records from 2010 to 2014 of 53 veterans with Type 2 diabetes: 30 patients who underwent sleeve gastrectomy and 23 who received medical diabetes care but did not receive any weight loss surgery (controls). Study participants—nearly all of whom were men—ranged in age from 29 to 80 years, and had diabetes for an average of 10 years..
Nonsurgical control subjects did not lose weight on average over a two-year follow-up period and therefore had no change in average body mass index, or BMI, Greenberg said. In the sleeve gastrectomy group, BMI decreased from 41 kg/m2 (morbidly obese) to 34 kg/m2 two years after surgery.
Hemoglobin A1c, a measure of blood sugar control over the past few months, also was significantly different between the two groups. It fell from an average of 7.25 percent before sleeve gastrectomy (but after lifestyle changes, such as diet and exercise) to 5.98 percent.. Among controls, the average Hemoglobin A1C at two years was not significantly changed.
As is common when people with Type 2 diabetes lose a great deal of weight, most (76 percent) of the patients after sleeve gastrectomy took fewer diabetes medications, such as insulin, she said.
"This research highlights the benefits of a surgical approach such as sleeve gastrectomy to help improve diabetes outcomes, especially compared to more conservative medical management," Greenberg commented.
She noted, however, that the improvement in diabetes measures in the surgical group reached a plateau at the end of two years. "Surgery may not be a permanent solution to improving diabetes control,. However the procedure does have immediate benefits that appear to set the patient on a path to a healthier future.
Sheetal Malhotra, MD, MS, internal medicine resident at James J. Peters VA Medical Center, will present this research.
INFORMATION:
Founded in 1916, the Endocrine Society is the world's oldest, largest and most active organization devoted to research on hormones and the clinical practice of endocrinology. Today, the Endocrine Society's membership consists of over 17,000 scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in more than 100 countries. Society members represent all basic, applied and clinical interests in endocrinology. The Endocrine Society is based in Washington, DC. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at http://www.endocrine.org. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/EndoMedia.
Sleeve gastrectomy surgery improves diabetes control better than medical care
2014-06-23
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
All-star pitchers will hate instant replay, according to new research from Columbia Business School
2014-06-23
NEW YORK — It's a historic year for Major League Baseball, as the organization introduces its expanded use of instant replay, allowing umpires to review home run calls, forced plays, foul balls and more. But the one decision still left fully in the hands of umpires is the calling of the strike zone. Should the rules be expanded for review of those calls? A new study from Columbia Business School's professor Jerry Kim says reviewing strike zone calls may be the one call All-Stars pitchers would want reversed.
"Instant replay will become public enemy no. 1 for All-Star ...
Measuring the mass of 'massless' electrons
2014-06-23
Cambridge, Mass. – June 23, 2014 – Individual electrons in graphene are massless, but when they move together, it's a different story.
Graphene, a one-atom-thick carbon sheet, has taken the world of physics by storm—in part, because its electrons behave as massless particles. Yet these electrons seem to have dual personalities. Phenomena observed in the field of graphene plasmonics suggest that when the electrons move collectively, they must exhibit mass.
After two years of effort, researchers led by Donhee Ham, Gordon McKay Professor of Electrical Engineering and Applied ...
Nonsurgical treatment for enlarged prostate on the horizon
2014-06-23
You just cannot ignore your symptoms any longer. You find yourself getting up many times every night with the urgency to urinate. Saw palmetto, even high doses of the highest-quality type, didn't work.
A trip to the urologist results in bad news: a recommendation for surgery to treat your enlarged prostate (technically known as benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH). A bit of Internet research on the proposed "transurethral resection of the prostate" makes you even more concerned – this surgery can result in sexual dysfunction and even impotence.
Aren't there non-invasive ...
Young indoor tanning increases early risk of skin cancer
2014-06-23
(Lebanon, NH, 6/23/14) Dartmouth researchers have found that early exposure to the ultraviolet radiation lamps used for indoor tanning is related to an increased risk of developing basal cell carcinomas (BCC) at a young age. Their findings are reported in "Early-Onset Basal Cell Carcinoma and Indoor Tanning: A Population-Based Study," a study that will be published in the July 2014 issue of Pediatrics. Since indoor tanning has become increasingly popular among adolescents and young adults, this research calls attention to the importance of counseling young people about ...
Gut microbe levels are linked to type 2 diabetes and obesity
2014-06-23
CHICAGO, IL — People with Type 2 diabetes or obesity have changes in the composition of their intestinal micro-organisms—called the gut microbiota—that healthy people do not have, researchers from Turkey have found. They presented the results Sunday at the joint meeting of the International Society of Endocrinology and the Endocrine Society: ICE/ENDO 2014 in Chicago.
The study lends support to other recent reports that have found an association between specific bacterial species in the human digestive system and obesity and diabetes, according to lead investigator Yalcin ...
Scientists use X-rays to look at how DNA protects itself from UV light
2014-06-23
The molecular building blocks that make up DNA absorb ultraviolet light so strongly that sunlight should deactivate them – yet it does not. Now scientists have made detailed observations of a "relaxation response" that protects these molecules, and the genetic information they encode, from UV damage.
The experiment at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory focused on thymine, one of four DNA building blocks. Researchers hit thymine with a short pulse of ultraviolet light and used a powerful X-ray laser to watch the molecule's response: A single ...
People who are obese or former smokers more likely to follow recommended statin therapy
2014-06-23
A new study suggests that lifestyle factors can help predict whether people will adhere to statin therapy for high cholesterol. Among people without heart disease and diabetes, those who are overweight, obese or former smokers are more likely to adhere to statin therapy, according to an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
Almost 1 in 10 cardiovascular events can be linked to nonadherence to prescribed medication. Studies indicate that nonadherence with statin therapy can be as high as 46%.
To determine whether lifestyle influences statin adherence, ...
Sharpening a test for tracing food-borne illness to source
2014-06-23
Research from the University of Melbourne, Australia, could make it easier for public health investigators to determine if a case of food poisoning is an isolated incident or part of a larger outbreak. The findings are published ahead of print in the Journal of Bacteriology.
The study focuses on a test called multi-locus variable number tandem repeats variable analysis (MLVA). The test, which is increasingly used in the detection and investigation of foodborne outbreaks, analyzes specific sequences of DNA (called loci) that change rapidly enough over time to distinguish ...
Nineteen Tomato varieties evaluated under organic guidelines
2014-06-23
ATHENS, GA – The recent surge in organic farming has created a need for enhanced research efforts to inform the agricultural sector. George Boyhan from the Department of Horticulture at the University of Georgia says that "variety evaluations"--studies that evaluate and develop crop varieties specifically suited for organic production--can be particularly useful to organic producers. "There continues to be need for variety evaluation trials, as many of the available varieties are locally adapted or only regionally available," he noted. Boyhan said few trials have been performed ...
SLU researchers see possible answer to chemo pain in a multiple sclerosis drug
2014-06-23
ST. LOUIS – In a recently published study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Saint Louis University professor of pharmacological and physiological sciences Daniela Salvemini, Ph.D. describes two discoveries: a molecular pathway by which a painful chemotherapy side effect happens and a drug that may be able to stop it.
"The chemotherapy drug paclitaxel is widely used to treat many forms of cancer, including breast, ovarian and lung cancers," said Salvemini. "Though it is highly effective, the medication, like many other chemotherapy drugs, frequently is accompanied ...