Obesity Surgery: Less Successful for Diabetics?

By Theresa Tamkins

A gastric bypass is a radical operation for desperate people. But a new study shows that this dramatic procedure—during which surgeons fashion a tiny new pouch that bypasses the old, larger stomach and part of the small intestine—isn’t always a weight-loss home run.

Certain patients—5% to 15%—lose some, but not all, of their excess weight after surgery. The new research, published today in Archives of Surgery, shows that people with type 2 diabetes diabetes are three times as likely as those without diabetes to fall into this group. Read More