Obesity has long been linked with type 2 diabetes, but fresh reports demonstrate clearly just how much obesity impacts on the development of the condition. The latest research pays specific attention to obese females, the ‘Journal of American College of Surgeons’ tells how surgical procedures can lower obesity can successively lower the odds of diabetes diagnosis.

From a total of 700 obese women who underwent surgery, 77% were not as likely to have diabetes during pregnancy as those obese women who did not have surgery. The surgery, which usually involves the fitting of a gastric band, restricts the amount of food a patient can intake, encouraging weight loss and therefore decreases the chance of type 2 diabetes on-set.

Whilst the surgery shows encouraging benefits for obese pregnant women (who may otherwise be likely to develop gestational diabetes) the results were based on USA insurance results rather than direct study of a controlled selection of pregnant women.

If accurate, the new findings on obesity surgery could be important for both men and women who have a high chance of developing diabetes at their current weight. Surgery may be the solution for anyone who is clinically obese whether that be ‘severely’ or ‘less severely’. It is important to remember that all surgery can lead to complications, including; vitamin and mineral deficiencies, hernia development, serious bleeding, blood clots and infection. Plus, there is the chance that unsatisfactory weight reduction will be achieved.

The average price for obesity reduction surgery is between 12,000 to 16,000. Another study last month suggests that although expensive, surgery could be the way to reduce the costs of managing type 2 diabetes. The study revealed that only 15% of diabetes patients were still taking medical treatment 2 years after surgery, meaning huge savings in treatment costs. Not only could obesity treatment help reduce the costs of diabetes but it could also help reduce other health implications of being overweight for each obese patient.

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