NEJM Audio Summary - April 26, 2012

Excerpted Script

0:49| "Bariatric Surgery versus Intensive Medical Therapy in Obese Patients with Diabetes", by Philip Schauer from Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio.
This randomized controlled study of 150 obese patients with type 2 diabetes determined the efficacy of intensive medical therapy alone versus medical therapy plus Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy. The proportion of patients with the primary end point,  which was glycated hemoglobin level of 6% or less 12 months after treatment, was 12% in the medical-therapy group versus 42% in the gastric-bypass group and 37% in the sleeve-gastrectomy group. Glycemic control improved in all three groups, with a mean glycated hemoglobin level of 7.5% in the medical-therapy group, 6.4% in the gastric-bypass group, and 6.6% in the sleeve-gastrectomy group. Weight loss was greater in the gastric-bypass group and sleeve-gastrectomy group (−29.4 kg and −25.1 kg, respectively) than in the medical-therapy group (−5.4 kg). In obese patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes, 12 months of medical therapy plus bariatric surgery achieved glycemic control in significantly more patients than medical therapy alone. Further study will be necessary to assess the durability of these results.
1:44| "Bariatric Surgery versus Conventional Medical Therapy for Type 2 Diabetes", by Geltrude Mingrone from Università Cattolica S. Cuore, Rome.
This trial compared the efficacy of two types of bariatric surgery (gastric bypass and biliopancreatic diversion) with conventional medical therapy in severely obese patients with type 2 diabetes. At 2 years, diabetes remission had occurred in no patients in the medical-therapy group versus 75% in the gastric-bypass group and 95% in the biliopancreatic-diversion group. Age, sex, baseline BMI, duration of diabetes, and weight changes were not significant predictors of diabetes remission at 2 years or of improvement in glycemia at 1 and 3 months. At 2 years, the average baseline glycated hemoglobin level (8.65%) had decreased in all groups, but patients in the two surgical groups had the greatest degree of improvement (average glycated hemoglobin levels, 7.69% in the medical-therapy group, 6.35% in the gastric-bypass group, and 4.95% in the biliopancreatic-diversion group).  In severely obese patients with type 2 diabetes, bariatric surgery resulted in better glucose control than did medical therapy. Preoperative BMI and weight loss did not predict the improvement in hyperglycemia after these procedures.
2:42| In editorial Paul Zimmet from the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia, writes that these studies are likely to have a major effect on future diabetes treatment. Nevertheless, more studies are needed, particularly those that may provide better prediction of success and the expected duration of remission and long-term complications. Meanwhile, the success of various types of bariatric surgery suggests that they should not be seen as a last resort. Such procedures might well be considered earlier in the treatment of obese patients with type 2 diabetes.

「肥満手術」って、肥満症が異常に多い彼の国での話かと思いきや、先進国の中では、むしろ日本が異常に少ないのだそうだ。（参照："Metabolic/Bariatric Surgery Worldwide 2008"[PDF]）そして、そんな我が国でも2010年に日本肥満症治療学会で「日本における高度肥満症に対する安全で卓越した外科治療のためのステートメント2010」[PDF]なんてもんが公開されていた。考えようによっては、効くかどうかわからないダイエット商品よりも、手術の質が担保されれば、手術のほうが倫理的と言えるかもしれないが…