Bariatric Surgery - Can We Predict Remission Of Diabetes?

One of the most important benefits of bariatric surgery (especially gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy) is its ability to improve the control of type 2 diabetes, often to the point where type 2 diabetes actually goes into remission after surgery.  Not everyone with type 2 diabetes who has bariatric surgery will experience remission - about 70-80% of patients having gastric bypass and about 50-60% of patients having sleeve gastrectomy will experience remission.  Ideally, we would be able to predict the likelihood of diabetes remission before the surgery is done, as this is arguably one of the most important potential benefits of bariatric surgery.

A recent study tried to answer this question using a scoring system called the DiaRem Score, which looked at at 4 preoperative variables amongst a group of 407 patients who underwent gastric bypass surgery:

• age
• need for insulin 
• diabetes medication use (points assigned varied by type of medication)
• hemoglobin A1C (a blood test which is a 3 month report card of diabetes control)

They found that this score, which is based on the above 4 variables, was highly predictive of who went into remission from their type 2 diabetes and who did not.

Other scoring systems and variables have been looked at as well.  Other variables that stands out in the literature are a shorter duration of diabetes, and preoperative serum C peptide level, which is a marker of a person's ability to produce insulin.

It is exciting to know that as we learn more about bariatric surgery, that we can become better at predicting who may benefit from a diabetes standpoint.  However, a word of caution - longer term studies suggest that for people who do enjoy diabetes remission after bariatric surgery, the diabetes recurs in about 50% of these people by 5 years post op.  While there is still certainly a health benefit to being free of diabetes for a number of years, it is important to remember that the diabetes can return and must be screened for regularly and lifelong.

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Marijuana and Diabetes Risk - Friend or Foe?

In follow up to my blogs about the increased risk of diabetes associated with smoking (read more here), some of my colleagues have asked me to comment on whether there is also an increased risk of diabetes associated with marijuana use.  With the advent of medical marijuana, and the plans to legalize marijuana use in Canada, this is definitely an excellent question.

A question, which it turns out, we have very little data on which to base an answer.

One study examined body fat, insulin sensitivity, and various aspects of beta cell function (the pancreatic cells that make insulin) in 30 cannabis smokers, and compared them to people matched for age, gender, ethnicity, and body mass index. They found that cannabis smokers had a higher percentage of abdominal visceral fat (the fat around the organs that is the metabolically dangerous (diabetes inducing) fat).  Good cholesterol (HDL) was a little lower, and carbohydrate intake a little higher, but otherwise, there was not much difference between groups.

Another study evaluated metabolic parameters in 4657 adults from the American NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey), 579 of whom were current marijuana users. They found that current users had a 16% lower fasting insulin level, and had less insulin resistance as well  (17% lower HOMA-IR, for the scientists in the audience), suggesting a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Use of marijuana in this study was associated with smaller waist (a crude way to measure abdominal visceral fat - which contrasts with the findings in the first study above).

Other than these studies, there is very little data on marijuana and its effect on diabetes risk.

At this point, the available data does not suggest that marijuana carries the increased risk of developing diabetes that cigarette smoking does, with one study suggesting that it may even be protective of developing diabetes. However, the data is extremely limited, and further study of the effects of marijuana is much needed.

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Diabetic Neuropathy

One of the main reasons why long term blood sugar control is so important in diabetes is the prevention of diabetes complications.   Diabetic neuropathy, which is damage to nerves caused by chronic elevation in blood sugars, is one of the complications we are trying to prevent.   Diabetic neuropathy affects a lot of people (you may be surprised by just how many - read on!), can be present in people who don't even have diabetes yet, can take many different forms, and can have a profound impact on the quality of life of people living with diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association has recently released a Position Statement (download is free) to help guide clinicians in understanding, diagnosing, preventing, and managing this complication of diabetes.

Some key points from this article:

1.  Diabetic neuropathy (DN) is a diagnosis of exclusion.  In other words, just because a patient with diabetes has findings of neuropathy, doesn't mean that the diabetes is necessarily the cause.  Other causes of neuropathy (discussed in the article) need to be ruled out before the nerve problem is attributed to diabetes as the cause.

2.  There are many types of diabetic neuropathy.  Distal symmetric polyneuropathy usually starts with symptoms in the feet, including numbness, tingling, pain, and burning, especially at night.  Autonomic neuropathies can affect/include the heart, ability to maintain blood pressure when standing up (orthostatic hypotension), the gastrointestinal tract, urinary tract, sexual dysfunction, or dysfunction in sweating. There are also forms of diabetic neuropathy that can affect specific nerves (cranial or peripheral), or bundles of nerves as they exit the spinal column.

3.  Diabetic neuropathy is common. Distal symmetric polyneuropathy affects 50% of people with type 2 diabetes after 10 years, and 20% of people with type 1 diabetes after 20 years.  Autonomic neuropathy involving the heart may affect up to 60% of people with type 2 diabetes after 15 years, and up to 30% of people with type 1 diabetes after 20 years.

4.  Diabetic neuropathy can be present in people with prediabetes.  Distal symmetric polyneuropathy may be present in 10-30% of people with impaired glucose tolerance, and autonomic neuropathy affecting the heart has been found in people with impaired glucose tolerance as well.

5.  Prevention of diabetic neuropathy is key, as there is no effective treatment available for established nerve damage.  Prevention is achieved primarily through optimizing blood sugar control. Lifestyle interventions are recommended for prevention in people with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, and a multifaceted approach including targeting of cardiovascular risk factors is recommended for prevention of cardiac autonomic neuropathy in people with type 2 diabetes.

6.  Management of established diabetic neuropathy is directed towards the particular type of neuropathy each patient has.  This can include pain control medication, fall prevention, and specific treatments to manage symptoms of the autonomic neuropathies.

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