[Influence of bariatric surgery on remission of type 2 diabetes]

The plague of obesity afflicts an increasing group of people. Moreover type 2 diabetes, which is the most serious illness accompanying excessive weight, is becoming more and more common. Traditional methods of obesity treatment, such as diet and physical exercise, fail. This applies especially to people with class III obesity. The only successful way of treating obesity in their case is bariatric surgery. There are three types of bariatric surgery: restrictive procedures (reducing stomach volume), malabsorptive procedures, and mixed procedures, which combine both methods. In spite of the risk connected with the surgery and complications after it, bariatric procedures are advised to patients with class III obesity and class II with an accompanying illness which increases the probability of death. It has been proved that bariatric surgery not only eliminates obesity but also very frequently (in 90% of cases) leads to the remission of type 2 diabetes. Moreover, the remission occurs very fast--it takes place a long time before the patients reduce their weight, even within a few days after surgery. Detailed studies have shown that the remission of diabetes is caused mostly by the change of the gastro-intestinal hormones' profile, resulting from the surgery. These hormones include GLP-1, GIP, peptide YY, ghrelin and oxyntomodulin. Additionally, the change of the amount of adipose tissue after the surgery influences the level of adipokines, i.e. the hormones of the adipose tissue, among which the most important are leptin, adiponectin and resistin. Thus, bariatric surgery not only changes the shape of the gastrointestinal tract but it also modulates the hormonal activity. Bariatric surgery is considered as therapy not only for the obese but also for diabetic patients.