Restrictive surgery beats obesity diabetes

Many do not consider it a disease, but the truth is that within the medical community obesity is already considered one of the main epidemics of the 21st century. In the developed world, almost half of the population is above their ideal weight, and the problem seems to be getting worse. The cases of childhood obesity are becoming very numerous.

A sedentary lifestyle and the abuse of convenience foods and so-called “junk food” are among the main causes of this weight gain in the population. The big problem with obesity is that it can lead to a large number of physical and psychological problems. From a psychological point of view, people who are overweight can suffer from self-esteem problems and even depressive episodes. Regarding physical problems, the effects are even worse: it increases the risk of suffering a cardiovascular accident, visceral fat prevents the proper functioning of internal organs, increases bad cholesterol. But if there is a disease that is directly associated with obesity , that is undoubtedly type 2 diabetes mellitus .

It is a chronic disease that requires the patient to maintain control over his diet and take the insulin doses indicated by the specialist. In the long term, not taking care of this disease can have important consequences, such as healing problems, circulation problems or vision problems.

Why does obesity cause diabetes?

When carbohydrates or sugars are taken, the concentration of glucose in the blood rises, and the pancreas has to secrete insulin so that the cells can take advantage of that glucose. Abusing these types of foods causes the pancreas to exhaust itself and reduce its production of insulin , preventing the cells from obtaining glucose. This results in the need to deliver insulin to the body artificially, either through pills, patches, or injections.

In an obese person there is, on the one hand, a reduction in the insulin production capacity and, on the other hand, an increase in the resistance of their cells to insulin, preventing glucose from entering them. Increased visceral and ectopic fat (abdominal fat) is directly associated with the development of insulin resistance.

Lose weight to end diabetes

While other diabetes have no cure, type 2 mellitus is usually associated with obesity, and that is good, because it means that if there is a loss of weight, the disease will disappear, or at least it will improve.

What happens is that, in many cases, when obesity is excessive, it is very difficult for the patient to lose weight on their own . Either because you have a severe food dependency or because your physical condition prevents you from moving to burn fat. However, there is a solution: restrictive surgery. This intervention consists of reducing the stomach’s capacity, thereby reducing the amount of food that the subject can ingest, which in turn results in weight loss.

Who is the ideal patient to beat obesity diabetes?

Specialists point out that gastric bypass is one of the best options to achieve significant weight loss, but it must be borne in mind that not all people can undergo such an operation.

The ideal patient for the operation to help overcome obesity diabetes is a person who has a body mass index above 30 and who has had diabetes for less than 10 years.

In a recent study carried out in 2017 it was found that up to 45% of patients who underwent treatments to combat obesity, specifically gastric sleeve placement or gastric bypass, experienced that the e The disease had completely disappeared . The control group also consisted of patients with diabetes due to obesity who, unlike the previous group, underwent a treatment of healthy diet and exercise. In this group, less than 2% of the participants experienced a total remission of the disease.

This has led to the assertion that, in some cases, it is necessary to perform a gastric bypass or opt for other restrictive stomach surgery techniques as a way to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.

Operation + diet + exercise

In recent years, restrictive surgery has proven to be very effective in curing obesity-associated diabetes, but it is not all to the credit of the surgery. It is important that patients who undergo a gastric bypass procedure realize that they have to make a total change of habits in their life .

If after the operation you eat uncontrollably again and you do not exercise, you will return to the starting situation. The important thing is to follow the instructions of the specialists throughout the process in order to achieve, in this way, a notable weight loss that improves the general health of the patient and favors the complete disappearance of diabetes.

Prevent before cure

Restrictive operations are done for reasons much more important than aesthetics: to gain health . Although nowadays they are quite common interventions, and the patient’s recovery process is becoming easier and faster, the ideal would be for the number of operations of this type to decrease each year instead of growing as it is doing.

The latest statistics and studies that have been carried out worldwide determine that, if things continue as they have been, in 2022 there will be more obese children than children with malnutrition. Can you do anything to avoid it? The truth is that yes. We are the adults who have to set an example in this case, instilling in the little ones the importance of having healthy lifestyle habits and eating a balanced diet. It would be enough to increase the intake of products rich in fiber, reduce the intake of carbohydrates and sugars and exercise moderately several times a week to notice a very noticeable change.