Bariatric Surgery and Insulin Resistance
Obesity is a condition that can have a serious impact on a person’s overall health. Those who are significantly overweight have been shown to be at higher risk for health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.
Unfortunately, despite health warnings, many obese individuals find it hard to lose weight on their own. It is often difficult to make the significant diet changes that are necessary to lose weight. In addition, excess weight can compromise physical activities, which makes exercising difficult.
Bariatric surgery alters the size of the stomach, and, depending on the surgical technique, reroutes the digestive system to limit the amount of food and nutrients the body can take in. Bariatric surgery assists patients in losing a significant amount of weight in a fairly short amount of time. The weight loss triggered by bariatric surgery can lead to great improvement in physical health.
Here, we discuss the potential impact of bariatric surgery on insulin resistance. Contact our Tijuana, Mexico practice to find out if you may benefit from this procedure.
Insulin Sensitivity and Type 2 Diabetes
Insulin is the hormone in the body that is primarily responsible for taking glucose from the blood stream and transferring it to the muscles and fat tissues in the body. Insulin sensitivity refers to how quickly the body is able to get glucose out of the blood and into those tissues.
Individuals with good insulin sensitivity will have ideal blood sugar levels. Those with poor insulin sensitivity will have high blood sugar levels because the glucose will stay in the blood longer than necessary. Poor insulin sensitivity and type 2 diabetes is particularly common in people who are obese.
Effects of Bariatric Surgery
A recent study published in the American Journal of Physiology has looked into how bariatric surgery affects patients with insulin sensitivity.
To conduct the study, doctors took samples of fat and thigh muscle tissues from obese patients with blood sugar levels within the normal range and those with type 2 diabetes. After undergoing bariatric surgery, samples were taken from each patient once again.
The collected data showed that, in all cases, patients lost weight and insulin levels improved. This improvement is thought to be largely associated with increased levels of insulin-controlled proteins in the fat and muscle tissues.
However, it should be noted that these changes took place only after the patients had lost a significant amount of weight.
Benefits of Bariatric Surgery
What this study has shown is that the benefits of bariatric surgery go well beyond the aesthetic effect of weight loss. There are also significant health benefits of this procedure.
By helping patients lose excess weight that has put their health at risk, bariatric surgery can decrease the likelihood of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and other obesity-related conditions.
Learn More
If you are struggling to lose weight and improve your health, you may be an ideal candidate for bariatric surgery. To learn more about this procedure and how it can benefit your physical and emotional well-being, contact us at your earliest convenience.
