58 in 100, freed from diabetes: weight-loss surgery brought remission that medicine alone rarely did, a decade-long study finds

For many people with type 2 diabetes, remission — blood sugar in the healthy range without medication — stayed within reach for years after weight-loss surgery. Researchers pooled randomised trials covering 262 people and followed them for a median of 11 years, some for up to 14. Remission happened at some point for 58% of those who had metabolic-bariatric surgery, compared with 3% of those given intensive medical and lifestyle care alone. People who had lived with diabetes for fewer years, who were not yet using insulin, and who lost more weight in the first year were the most likely to reach remission — though diabetes did return for some, and surgery is a major step that is not right for everyone. The analysis, led by Donald Simonson of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, was published in Diabetes Care.

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