Predicting Diabetes Reversal after Surgery

A new scoring system may help predict who will have a reversal of diabetes after weight-loss surgery. The system was based on results for nearly 700 obese diabetics who had weight-loss surgery. Within 5 years, 63% had full or partial remission of diabetes. People in both groups were able to stop taking diabetes medicines. Full remission meant that blood sugar returned to normal. Those with partial remission had lower blood sugar, but it was still above normal. Researchers found that 4 factors helped to predict who would have at least partial remission. It was much less likely to occur in people who took insulin before surgery. Other factors included age, hemoglobin A1c level (a long-term measurement of blood sugar) and what other diabetes drugs a person took before surgery. Researchers assigned points to each factor.