Ali Aminian, MD, Director of the Bariatric and Metabolic Institute at Cleveland Clinic talks about the impact of bariatric weight loss surgery on people with type 2 diabetes and the health benefits years after.
How was STAMPEDE conducted? How many people did it include and over what period did you study?
AMINIAN: In the STAMPEDE trial 150 patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes were identified and randomized to three groups, intensive medical management for diabetes, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, and a sleeve gastrectomy surgery with 50 patients in each group. Patients were then followed up five years after enrollment into the study.
Can you tell us what the findings were of this most recent study?
AMINIAN: In the original STAMPEDE publication, we showed that both surgical procedures, gastric bypass, and sleeve gastrectomy were superior in terms of weight loss and diabetes control compared with medical management in patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity. In the current study, we examine different aspects of quality-of-life among the STAMPEDE patients. We found that up to five years after enrollment into this study, surgical patients had better quality-of-life in terms of greater physical health scores, less body pain, and more energy compared with the medical patients.
How much of an improvement in HbA1c did patients see on average?
AMINIAN: On average, surgical patients had near two percent greater improvement in the HbA1c compared with the medical patient.
What do those findings suggest?
AMINIAN: The findings of our study suggest that in addition to substantial and sustained weight loss and remarkable improvement in type 2 diabetes after bariatric and metabolic surgery, these surgical procedures have added benefit. Those benefits include improvement in various aspects of quality-of-life including less body pain, more energy, less fatigue, better physical health in surgical patients compared with medical patients.
What would you like people to know about bariatric surgery as an option to control blood sugar?
AMINIAN: Bariatric and metabolic surgery is extremely safe and effective in providing durable weight loss and diabetes control. In addition, these benefits can lead to significant improvement in quality-of-life. Patients are going to be healthier and going to enjoy their life better after they lose substantial amount of weight and have better diabetes control.
What would you say your main takeaway would be from this latest phase of the STAMPEDE study?
AMINIAN: The takeaway message is that bariatric and metabolic surgery can improve different aspects of quality of life, and specifically patients are going to have less pain, more energy, and going to have better physical health overall. We found that significant weight loss and being independent of insulin in patients who used to be on insulin before surgery were the main predictors of improvement in quality-of-life metrics.
Interview conducted by Ivanhoe Broadcast News.
END OF INTERVIEW
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