June 1, 2002
Surgery
Question from Canada:
I am a 46 year old female who has had type 2 diabetes for approximately a year (currently controlled by diet and exercise), and I have a family history. I was very thin as a child, but as a got to my teens, I adopted my mother’s body type, carrying most of my excess fat in the middle. When I was first diagnosed with diabetes, I weighed 160 pounds and have lost 20 pounds now, but the fat around my middle is stubborn. I understand that the fact that my body’s tendency to store fat around my middle is a contributing factor in heart disease as well as diabetes. If I have liposuction, removing the abdominal fat cells once and for all, wouldn’t this improve my type 2 diabetes and reduce other associated risks?
It sounds logical to me, but I am embarrassed to ask my doctor who will think I’m just not trying to lose weight hard enough. Also I have heard that surgery on obese people with diabetes (stomach stapling) causes weight loss and does improve control.
Answer:
It has been shown that liposuction can temporarily decrease the insulin resistance associated with increased abdominal fat. The question long-term is whether it will recur if you do not adopt a lifestyle that allows you to maintain the weight loss you desire.
Liposuction is invasive. If you have to have a lot of fat removed, it increases the risk. I am not a surgeon that performs that procedure, but I would be concerned it would require such a large amount of removal to increase the risk. In addition, I would be concerned it would only be a temporary benefit in helping to manage type 2 diabetes.
JTL
