The implications for the surgical community of bariatric surgery as a “cure” for type 2 diabetes

The United States is in the throes of an epidemic of morbid obesity and, parenthetically, type 2 diabetes. Recent data indicate that bariatric surgery, notably Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, is valid not only for weight loss but also for a high success rate in the amelioration and perhaps “cure” of type 2 diabetes. It clearly is not weight loss alone, because the amelioration of type 2 diabetes occurs before weight loss. The mechanism needs to be elucidated and researched. For the first time since tuberculosis—before antitubercular drugs, when surgical procedures were the principal mechanism for dealing with tuberculosis—surgery has the opportunity to participate in the amelioration and perhaps cure of this epidemic and to regain its professional stature. Included in this article are the author's thoughts and suggestions on how we can keep control of weight loss and bariatric procedures that are valid treatments for morbid obesity and related type 2 diabetes. We should use this opportunity to stop the current conversion of surgeons from professionals to employees.