For more than 100 million Americans who are obese, bariatric surgery may reverse complications related to diabetes, including regenerating damaged nerves, a Michigan Medicine study shows.
A research team led by the University of Michigan Health Department of Neurology followed more than 120 patients who underwent bariatric surgery for obesity over two years after the procedure. They found that all metabolic risk factors for developing diabetes, such as high glucose and lipid levels, improved outside of blood pressure and total cholesterol, according to results published in Diabetologia.
Investigators also found that patients two years removed from bariatric surgery showed improvements in peripheral neuropathy, a condition marked by damage to the nerves that go from the spinal cord all the way to the hands and feet.
Researchers assessed two primary measures for peripheral neuropathy in patients with obesity by taking skin biopsies that show the nerve fiber density in the thigh and the leg. Two years after bariatric surgery, nerve fiber density improved in the thigh and remained stable in the leg.
University of Michigan release
