Even though weight loss surgery cannot cure type 2 diabetes, it can improve blood sugar control, says a new study published in the British Journal of Surgery. Recently the American Diabetes Association convened a group of experts to agree on standards by which to assess whether a patient has achieved remission of diabetes. They defined complete remission as returning to normal measures of glucose metabolism without taking diabetes medication at least one year after surgery.

The new study revisited previous data on 209 patients with type 2 diabetes to evaluate the effectiveness of three types of weight loss surgery using the new criteria. They found that the remission rate was 41% for gastric bypass, the most effective type of surgery.

"Using the new criteria, we don't get such eye-catching figures as some that have been quoted in recent years," said Dr. Carel le Roux, from the Department of Medicine at Imperial College London, who led the study. "But it's clear that weight loss surgery, particularly gastric bypass, has a significant beneficial effect on glucose control.

"Diabetes is a chronic, multisystem disease. Stomach surgery may not mean that patients can stop taking diabetes medication, but surgery and medication together achieve better results than either treatment on its own".