Improvements made to type 2 diabetes remission tool used in weight loss surgery

Scientists believe they have improved a tool used to predict how someone will react to weight loss surgery and the probability of putting their type 2 diabetes into remission.
At the moment doctors use a standard scoring system called DiaRem which combines the person’s age, body mass index (BMI), diabetes indicators and treatments to determine potential health outcomes after weight loss surgery.
Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery is a weight loss operation that has been proven to aid type 2 diabetes remissio, but not all people with the condition achieve this on a long-term basis.
The surgery is irreversible, so it is important that before someone receives the operation that healthcare professionals gather as much information about how effective it is likely to be.
To help with this, a team from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), Israel has made adjustments to the DiaRem. The scoring system is now able to extend the prediction time for type 2 diabetes remissio, following bariatric surgery, from one to five years.
Dr Rachel Gola, a lecturer in the BGU School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, said: “We know weight loss surgery has the potential to put diabetes in remission.
“The previous DiaRem model was limited to projecting outcomes for only one year after only one type of procedure. Our ‘Advanced-DiaRem’ was able to predict the longer-term probability of achieving remission from diabetes out to five years following three different surgical procedures.”
The other surgical procedures assessed and incorporated into the Advanced-Diarem were sleeve gastrectomy and gastric banding surgery.
The work involved using a database of nearly 1,500 people who had type 2 diabetes and a BMI score of more than 30, who underwent bariatric surgery.
Dr Golan said: “The ability to predict an individual’s reaction to weight loss surgery gives both doctors and patients the clarity they need to make informed medical decisions.
“More importantly, it will enable healthcare officials to address a public health crisis that is one of the major contributors to the spiralling cost of healthcare, and direct resources where they can be most effective.”
The results have been published in the Obesity Surgery journal.