BACKGROUND Long-term results from randomized, controlled trials that compare medical therapy with surgical therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes are limited. METHODS We assessed outcomes 5 years after 150 patients who had type 2 diabetes and a body-mass index (BMI; the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters) of 27 to 43 were randomly assigned to receive intensive medical therapy alone or intensive medical therapy plus Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy. The primary outcome was a glycated hemoglobin level of 6.0% or less with or without the use of diabetes medications. RESULTS Of the 150 patients who underwent randomization, 1 patient died during the 5-year follow-up period; 134 of the remaining 149 patients (90%) completed 5 years of follow-up. At baseline, the mean (±SD) age of the 134 patients was 49±8 years, 66% were women, the mean glycated hemoglobin level was 9.2±1.5%, and the mean BMI was 37±3.5. At 5 years, the criterion for the primary end point was met by 2 of 38 patients (5%) who received medical therapy alone, as compared with 14 of 49 patients (29%) who underwent gastric bypass (unadjusted P = 0.01, adjusted P = 0.03, P = 0.08 in the intention-to-treat analysis) and 11 of 47 patients (23%) who underwent sleeve gastrectomy (unadjusted P = 0.03, adjusted P = 0.07, P = 0.17 in the intention-to-treat analysis). Patients who underwent surgical procedures had a greater mean percentage reduction from baseline in glycated hemoglobin level than did patients who received medical therapy alone (2.1% vs. 0.3%, P = 0.003). At 5 years, changes from baseline observed in the gastric-bypass and sleeve-gastrectomy groups were superior to the changes seen in the medical-therapy group with respect to body weight (−23%, −19%, and −5% in the gastric-bypass, sleeve-gastrectomy, and medical-therapy groups, respectively), triglyceride level (−40%, −29%, and −8%), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level (32%, 30%, and 7%), use of insulin (−35%, −34%, and −13%), and quality-of-life measures (general health score increases of 17, 16, and 0.3; scores on the RAND 36-Item Health Survey ranged from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better health) (P<0.05 for all comparisons). No major late surgical complications were reported except for one reoperation. CONCLUSIONS Five-year outcome data showed that, among patients with type 2 diabetes and a BMI of 27 to 43, bariatric surgery plus intensive medical therapy was more effective than intensive medical therapy alone in decreasing, or in some cases resolving, hyperglycemia.

BACKGROUND Observational studies have shown improvement in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus after bariatric surgery. METHODS In this randomized, nonblinded, single-center trial, we evaluated the efficacy of intensive medical therapy alone versus medical therapy plus Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy in 150 obese patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes. The mean (±SD) age of the patients was 49 ± 8 years, and 66% were women. The average glycated hemoglobin level was 9.2 ± 1.5%. The primary end point was the proportion of patients with a glycated hemoglobin level of 6.0% or less 12 months after treatment. RESULTS Of the 150 patients, 93% completed 12 months of follow-up. The proportion of patients with the primary end point was 12% (5 of 41 patients) in the medical-therapy group versus 42% (21 of 50 patients) in the gastric-bypass group (P = 0.002) and 37% (18 of 49 patients) in the sleeve-gastrectomy group (P = 0.008). Glycemic control improved in all three groups, with a mean glycated hemoglobin level of 7.5 ± 1.8% in the medical-therapy group, 6.4 ± 0.9% in the gastric-bypass group (P<0.001), and 6.6 ± 1.0% in the sleeve-gastrectomy group (P = 0.003). Weight loss was greater in the gastric-bypass group and sleeve-gastrectomy group (−29.4 ± 9.0 kg and −25.1 ± 8.5 kg, respectively) than in the medical-therapy group (−5.4 ± 8.0 kg) (P<0.001 for both comparisons). The use of drugs to lower glucose, lipid, and blood-pressure levels decreased significantly after both surgical procedures but increased in patients receiving medical therapy only. The index for homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) improved significantly after bariatric surgery. Four patients underwent reoperation. There were no deaths or life-threatening complications. CONCLUSIONS In obese patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes, 12 months of medical therapy plus bariatric surgery achieved glycemic control in significantly more patients than medical therapy alone. Further study will be necessary to assess the durability of these results. (Funded by Ethicon Endo-Surgery and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00432809.)

BACKGROUND In short-term randomized trials (duration, 1 to 2 years), bariatric surgery has been associated with improvement in type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS We assessed outcomes 3 years after the randomization of 150 obese patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes to receive either intensive medical therapy alone or intensive medical therapy plus Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy. The primary end point was a glycated hemoglobin level of 6.0% or less. RESULTS The mean (±SD) age of the patients at baseline was 48±8 years, 68% were women, the mean baseline glycated hemoglobin level was 9.3±1.5%, and the mean baseline body-mass index (the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters) was 36.0±3.5. A total of 91% of the patients completed 36 months of follow-up. At 3 years, the criterion for the primary end point was met by 5% of the patients in the medical-therapy group, as compared with 38% of those in the gastric-bypass group (P<0.001) and 24% of those in the sleeve-gastrectomy group (P = 0.01). The use of glucose-lowering medications, including insulin, was lower in the surgical groups than in the medical-therapy group. Patients in the surgical groups had greater mean percentage reductions in weight from baseline, with reductions of 24.5±9.1% in the gastric-bypass group and 21.1±8.9% in the sleeve-gastrectomy group, as compared with a reduction of 4.2±8.3% in the medical-therapy group (P<0.001 for both comparisons). Quality-of-life measures were significantly better in the two surgical groups than in the medical-therapy group. There were no major late surgical complications. CONCLUSIONS Among obese patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes, 3 years of intensive medical therapy plus bariatric surgery resulted in glycemic control in significantly more patients than did medical therapy alone. Analyses of secondary end points, including body weight, use of glucose-lowering medications, and quality of life, also showed favorable results at 3 years in the surgical groups, as compared with the group receiving medical therapy alone. (Funded by Ethicon and others; STAMPEDE ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00432809.)

People with obesity commonly face a pervasive, resilient form of social stigma. They are often subject to discrimination in the workplace as well as in educational and healthcare settings. Research indicates that weight stigma can cause physical and psychological harm, and that affected individuals are less likely to receive adequate care. For these reasons, weight stigma damages health, undermines human and social rights, and is unacceptable in modern societies. To inform healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public about this issue, a multidisciplinary group of international experts, including representatives of scientific organizations, reviewed available evidence on the causes and harms of weight stigma and, using a modified Delphi process, developed a joint consensus statement with recommendations to eliminate weight bias. Academic institutions, professional organizations, media, public-health authorities, and governments should encourage education about weight stigma to facilitate a new public narrative about obesity, coherent with modern scientific knowledge.

The MoCA is a suitably accurate, brief test when screening all levels of cognition in PD.

Historically, insulin resistance during pregnancy has been ascribed to increased production of placental hormones and cortisol. The purpose of this study was to test this hypothesis by correlating the longitudinal changes in insulin sensitivity during pregnancy with changes in placental hormones, cortisol, leptin, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-␣. Insulin resistance was assessed in 15 women (5 with gestational diabetes mellitus [GDM] and 10 with normal glucose tolerance) using the euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp procedure, before pregnancy (pregravid) and during early (12-14 weeks) and late (34 -36 weeks) gestation. Body composition, plasma TNF-␣, leptin, cortisol, and reproductive hormones (human chorionic gonadotropin, estradiol, progesterone, human placental lactogen, and prolactin) were measured in conjunction with the clamps. Placental TNF-␣ was measured in vitro using dually perfused human placental cotyledon from five additional subjects. Compared with pregravid, insulin resistance was evident during late pregnancy in all women (12.4 ؎ 1.2 vs. 8.1 ؎ 0.8 10 ؊2 mg ⅐ kg ؊1 fat-free mass ⅐ min ؊1 ⅐ U ؊1 ⅐ ml ؊1 ). TNF-␣, leptin, cortisol, all reproductive hormones, and fat mass were increased in late pregnancy (P < 0.001). In vitro, most of the placental TNF-␣ (94%) was released into the maternal circulation; 6% was released to the fetal side. During late pregnancy, TNF-␣ was inversely correlated with insulin sensitivity (r ‫؍‬ ؊0.69, P < 0.006). Furthermore, among all of the hormonal changes measured in this study, the change in TNF-␣ from pregravid to late pregnancy was the only significant predictor of the change in insulin sensitivity (r ‫؍‬ ؊0.60, P < 0.02). The placental reproductive hormones and cortisol did not correlate with insulin sensitivity in late pregnancy. Multivariate stepwise regression analysis revealed that TNF-␣ was the most significant independent predictor of insulin sensitivity (r ‫؍‬ ؊0.67, P < 0.0001), even after adjustment for fat mass by covariance (r ‫؍‬ 0.46, P < 0.01). These observations challenge the view that the classical reproductive hormones are the primary mediators of change in insulin sensitivity during gestation and provide the basis for including TNF-␣ in a new paradigm to explain insulin resistance in pregnancy. Diabetes 51:2207-2213, 2002

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OBJECTIVE-To quantitate plasma ceramide subspecies concentrations in obese subjects with type 2 diabetes and relate these plasma levels to the severity of insulin resistance. Ceramides are a putative mediator of insulin resistance and lipotoxicity, and accumulation of ceramides within tissues in obese and diabetic subjects has been well described.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS-We analyzed fasting plasma ceramide subspecies by quantitative tandem mass spectrometry in 13 obese type 2 diabetic patients and 14 lean healthy control subjects. Results were related to insulin sensitivity measured with the hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp technique and with plasma tumor necrosis factor-␣ (TNF-␣) levels, a marker of inflammation. Ceramide species (C18:1, 18:0, 20:0, 24:1, and 24:0) were quantified using electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry after separation with high-performance liquid chromatography. RESULTS-Insulin sensitivity (mg ⅐ kgϪ1 ⅐ min Ϫ1 ) was lower in type 2 diabetic patients (4.90 Ϯ 0.3) versus control subjects (9.6 Ϯ 0.4) (P Ͻ 0.0001). Type 2 diabetic subjects had higher (P Ͻ 0.05) concentrations of C18:0, C20:0, C24:1, and total ceramide. Insulin sensitivity was inversely correlated with C18:0, C20:0, C24:1, C24:0, and total ceramide (all P Ͻ 0.01). Plasma TNF-␣ concentration was increased (P Ͻ 0.05) in type 2 diabetic subjects and correlated with increased C18:1 and C18:0 ceramide subspecies.CONCLUSIONS-Plasma ceramide levels are elevated in type 2 diabetic subjects and may contribute to insulin resistance through activation of inflammatory mediators, such as TNF-␣.