Thought this was interesting...at 3 months post bariatric surgery...fits my Type II resolution to a T.
Wiped off the face of my chart...almost 4 years n A1cs et all .....perfecto!

Anyone sittin on the fence, indecisive about bariatric surgery w/ Type II ...GET VSG! its a life and limb saver...lemme tell ya! It ain't just for fat folks wantin to be skinny ya know!! ITS SAVING LIVES!!

Studies: Bariatric Surgery Best for Obese Diabetics

By Crystal Phend, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today

Published: March 26, 2012

Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Dorothy Caputo, MA, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, Nurse Planner

2 comment(s)

Action Points

• These two studies provide evidence that in obese patients with type 2 diabetes, surgery can be more effective that either standard or intensive medical treatment alone.
• Point out that in both studies, bariatric surgery (gastric bypass, biliopancreatic diversion or sleeve gastrectomy) induced remission and was associated with a significant improvement in metabolic control over and above medical therapy, whether conventional or intensive.

Bariatric surgery improves glycemic control better than optimal medical therapy alone for obese patients with type 2 diabetes, two randomized trials determined.

Hemoglobin A1c levels normalized to under 6% by 1 year for 42% of patients who got gastric bypass surgery and 37% who got sleeve gastrectomy compared with 12% on intensive medical therapy alone (P=0.002 andP=0.008), Philip R. Schauer, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues reported in the STAMPEDE trial.

After 2 years in a second trial, diabetes went into remission with fasting glucose under 100 mg/dL and A1c under 6.5% off medication in 75% of gastric bypass patients and 95% of biliopancreatic diversion patients compared with none on conventional medical therapy.

Metabolic control also improved more in the surgery groups of both trials, appearing online in theNew England Journal of Medicine.

"Although type 2 diabetes has been the domain of physicians, surgeons may now be able to claim greater success in achieving improved metabolic control," an accompanying editorial suggested, calling the results likely practice changing.

Longer term and larger studies are needed to prove a durable benefit and whether the results would be as good in routine practice, noted editorialists Paul Zimmet, MD, PhD, of the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia, and K. George M.M. Alberti, DPhil, of King's College Hospital in London.

"Meanwhile, the success of various types of bariatric surgery suggests that they should not be seen as a last resort," they wrote. "Such procedures might well be considered earlier in the treatment of obese patients with type 2 diabetes."

American Experience

The STAMPEDE (Surgical Treatment and Medications Potentially Eradicate Diabetes Efficiently) trial was presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Chicago in conjunction withNEJM publication.

It included 150 obese patients with a body mass index of 27 to 43 kg/m² (mean 36, 34% under 35 kg/m²) and uncontrolled diabetes with a hemoglobin A1c over 7.0% (mean 9.2%) randomized to Roux-en-Y surgery or sleeve gastrectomy or medical therapy alone.

All patients got intensive medical therapy according to American Diabetes Association guidelines with lifestyle counseling, weight management (recommended to include Weigh****chers), and newer diabetes drugs, such as the incretin analogues.

Glycosylated hemoglobin levels fell rapidly in the first 3 months after surgery. By 1 year, they reached a mean 6.4% after gastric bypass and 6.6% after sleeve gastrectomy compared with 7.5% with medical therapy alone (P

Oh dang it sorry....HERE's the article in its entirety...just noticed it won't copy rest of content because of too many arrows (less,greater signs in the study!)

www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/Diabetes/31839

I haven't taken any diabetes meds since the surgery.  At 6 1/2 months out, I had my annual physical and bloodwork.  My A1C was 5.0 and fasting blood sugar was 92.   I was so thrilled!!!

This gives me hope for my diabetes! Thanks so much for sharing! My husband had just been diagnosed with diabetes right before his surgery, and his sugars have been excellent since surgery too! I hope I follow in his footsteps

 I was on a "boatload" of diabetes meds, including insulin, before my surgery.  After surgery while still in the hospital, my blood sugars got so low they had to give me glucose in my IV.  I have had normal blood sugars ever since.

It amazes me every time I stick myself.

At my surgeons, required orientation presentation, I saw a young thin man there before it got started and walked up to him and said, how nice that you came to support your wife or girlfriend, fishing for an answer to which.....and he responded heck no, I'm here for me, I have diabetes....  His insurance company had approved him for surgery to treat type II diabetes....they still required a six month  class but waved any required weight loss....   So I know for a fact that companies are approving By Pass RnY surgery for type II diabetes.... because it has the highest efficacy against that disease... 

The  lab coats still have a lot to learn, never idolize a doctor as a God....its a practice, your the rat...LOL, we have to be our own health advocates, first and foremost....