Using electronic health records from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink, researchers from King's College London assessed the effect of contemporary surgical weight loss procedures on the development of diabetes.

　　Being overweight or obese is the main risk factor for type 2 diabetes.

　　Weight loss surgery reduces diabetes risk: <a href=http://www.hxen.com target=_blank class=infotextkey>study</a>

　　They identified 2167 obese adults without diabetes who underwent one of three surgical procedures - laparoscopic adjustable banding, sleeve gastrectomy, or gastric bypass - for weight loss from 2002 onwards.

　　These participants were compared with 2167 controls matched for age, sex, BMI, and blood glucose control who had not had surgery or other obesity treatments. Participants were followed up for a maximum of seven years (median 2.8 years).

　　During follow-up, researchers recorded 38 new diabetes diagnosis among participants who had weight loss surgery, compared with 177 in control participants. Compared with the control group, diabetes incidence was reduced by about 80 percent in participants who had surgery, even after controlling for other important factors including smoking, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

　　However, writing in a linked comment, Dr Jacques Himpens from Saint Pierre University Hospital in Brussels, said: "Although the results bring us a step closer to confirming the effect of surgery on the incidence of type 2 diabetes, many questions still remain unanswered, and more evidence is needed to convince endocrinologists about the nature of this effect."