Gastric band surgery significantly reduces health risks in overweight people with diabetes: study finds

Melbourne: A long-term study by Monash University researchers – the first of its kind – has found that gastric band surgery has significant benefits for moderately overweight people with type 2 diabetes. Previous studies have focused on obese people. The five-year study by Monash’s Centre for Obesity Research and Education (CORE), found that gastric or Lap-band surgery improved the patients’ chances of diabetes remission, reduced the need for diabetes medication and dramatically enhanced their quality of life.
Diabetes, along with obesity, is occurring in epidemic proportions. According to Diabetes Australia, an estimated 1.7 million Australians currently have the disease. Nearly 90 per cent of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese.