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# Weight loss, metabolism and the diabetes link
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/weight_loss_metabolism_and_the_diabetes_link_0505110848/
- Published: 2011-05-05T09:48:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-20T15:49:53.000Z
- Description: Columbia and Duke researchers compared severely obese diabetic patients who had weight loss surgery with those on strict diets. Both groups lost 20 pounds, but circulating amino acids tied to obesity and insulin resistance fell significantly only in the surgery patients.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Lifestyle, Health News, Weight Loss, Diabetes, #vivvo-import

by Aimee Keenan-Greene

[Gastric bypass surgery may make diabetes disappear, ](http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/27/us-diabetes-surgery-idUSTRE73Q7J920110427?ref=foodconsumer.org)according to researchers at Columbia and Duke Universities.

Researchers studied severely obese diabetic patients who had weight loss surgery or went on strict diets. 

Both groups lost 20 pounds, but levels of circulating amino acids - the compounds linked with obesity, diabetes and insulin resistance, were significantly reduced in surgery patients.

Scientists will focus on developing medications to replicate this effect without surgery.

Gastric bypass can reduce the size of the stomach by well over 90 percent.

According to another recent study in the journal [Pediatrics](http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/peds.2010-0785v1?ijkey=d7b6bdb2750c84a0638e625835e155a92585ae31&keytype2=tf%5Fipsecsha&ref=foodconsumer.org), adolescents who underwent weight loss surgery lose significant bone mass as part of initial weight loss. 

According to [Lifespan](http://search.lifespan.org/health/gastric%20bypass?ref=foodconsumer.org) in Rhode Island, adults with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 25 but less than 30 are overweight. Adults with a BMI greater than 30 are obese. Anyone more than 100 pounds overweight or with a BMI greater than 40 is considered morbidly obese.

The percentage of overweight children has doubled in the last 20 years, while the percentage of adolescents who are obese has tripled, says Lifespan.

The[ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention](http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6002a2.htm?s%5Fcid=mm6002a2%5Fw&ref=foodconsumer.org) says childhood obesity affects nearly 12.5 million children and teens nationwide.

Obese youth are more likely to become overweight or obese adults, and more at risk for associated future adulthealth problems, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis.

An estimated 15,000 children are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and about 3,700 youth are diagnosed with type 2 annually in the U.S., according to the CDC.