According to research from Pennington Biomedical Research Center, published in the journal Diabetes Care, through bariatric surgery, type 2 diabetes can be cured more quickly and with longer-lasting effects than with medications and lifestyle modifications. Dr. John Kirwan, Ph.D., Pennington Biomedical Executive Director, stated that the treatment guidelines from the American Medical Association, the American Diabetes Association, and many other leading medical organizations are that metabolic surgery is an effective treatment for type 2 diabetes. However, many health insurers do not provide coverage for metabolic surgery because there is no clinical evidence that is sufficiently large, controlled, and randomized to consider how long the results of the surgery last relative to medications and lifestyle changes.

Dr. Kirwan noted that in the study, even when patients were provided with education in nutrition, exercise, self-monitoring, and the newest diabetes medications on the market, only 2.6% of patients were able to achieve diabetes remission. But, when the research team looked at the clinical reports of the patients who underwent metabolic surgery, 37.5% had achieved lasting remission of their diabetes, even after 3 years.

The findings of the study showed that metabolic surgery was superior to medication and lifestyle changes in lowering HbA1c, fasting glucose, body weight, and other cardiovascular risk factors with substantially fewer medications. The study also showed that out of all the participants included in the study, less than 1% of individuals were eligible for bariatric surgery and receiving treatment, likely due to both patients and their providers’ concerns about the long-term safety of the surgery. 

(Source: https://theprint.in/health/study-bariatric-surgery-might-be-more-impactful-than-lifestyle-for-type-2-diabetes-remission/1112454/ )