Over 90 percent of type 2 diabetics obtain excellent results —usually within a few days after surgery and normal blood sugar levels— allowing freedom from all medications, including insulin injections. There is no medical treatment for diabetes which can achieve as complete and profound an effect. This has led some physicians to suggest that surgery may be the best treatment for diabetes in a severely obese patient. Borderline diabetes is even more reliably reversed by gastric bypass. Since this condition results in diabetes in many cases, the operation can frequently prevent the condition.
At least 70 percent of patients who have high blood pressure — including those who are taking medications to control it— are able to stop all medications and have a normal blood pressure, usually within two to three months after surgery. When medications are still required, the dosage can generally be lowered, resulting in a reduction of side effects.
Over 80 percent of patients with high cholesterol will develop normal cholesterol levels within two to three months after the operation.
Most people with asthma find that they have fewer, less severe attacks, and sometimes none at all.
Although it can’t be said for sure that heart disease is reduced, the improvement in problems such as high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and diabetes suggests that improvement in risk for cardiovascular disease is very likely. In a recent study, the risk of death from cardiovascular disease was reduced in diabetic patients, who are particularly susceptible to this problem.
Relief of all symptoms of reflux usually occurs within a few days of gastric bypass surgery, for nearly all patients. A study is now beginning to determine if the changes in the esophageal lining membrane (known as Barrett’s esophagus) may be reversed by the surgery as well, thereby reducing the risk of esophageal cancer.
Patients usually experience considerable relief of pain and disability from arthritis and in the weight-bearing joints. This tends to occur early (with the first 30 to 40 pounds lost), usually within about a month after surgery. Of course, if there is nerve irritation or structural damage already present, it may not be reversed by weight loss, and some pain symptoms can persist.
Dramatic relief of sleep apnea occurs as patients lose weight. Many report that within a year of surgery, their symptoms were completely gone, and they had even stopped snoring completely— and their spouses agree.
This condition responds dramatically to weight loss, usually by becoming completely controlled. A person who is still troubled by incontinence can choose to have specific corrective surgery later, with much greater chance of a successful outcome with a reduced body weight.