Diabetes Can Come Back After Bariatric Surgery

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A new study from the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona (published in the New England Journal of Medicine) has found that one in five patients that successfully treated their type 2 diabetes with gastric bypass surgery experienced a resurgence in their diabetes within five years of the surgery. This number does not include patients that had bariatric surgery which did NOT successfully bring their diabetes under control.

It is not immediately clear why so many patients’ diabetes returned, but it is currently believed that the longer an individual has diabetes the more likely it is return. This is believed because we know that the longer someone has diabetes the worse it becomes.

Many people believe that type 2 diabetes is not serious because they can always have bariatric surgery; unfortunately, surgery is not a cure all. In fact, whenever possible, surgery should be avoided and patients should do everything they can to lose weight on their on, as soon as possible (things only get worse the longer you wait)!

Surgery should always be the last option!