If you have PCOS, it's likely you've been told that your risk of diabetes is increased. And that means it's likely this news headline caught your eye.
Here is the reference to the article that the story was based on, if you want to track it down online or in your local library.
Dixon JB, O'Brien PE, Playfair J, Chapman L, Schachter LM, Skinner S, Proietto J, Bailey M, Anderson M. Adjustable gastric banding and conventional therapy for type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial.
JAMA. 2008 Jan 23;299(3):316-23. Comment in: JAMA. 2008 Jan 23;299(3):341-3.
Wouldn't it be great if this claim were true? There are some important caveats to consider before getting in line at your nearest bariatric clinic.
1. The authors of the original study used the word"remission", not"cure", to describe what they observed. Even in cancer treatment, there is a 5 year waiting period a patient must pass before being told they are free and clear of the disease. Somewhere in the trip from the research lab to the news desk a huge leap in logic occurred. Of course,"cure" attracts more viewers--and advertising dollars--than"remission"--but just beware that just as reporters can change their own appearance to look better on camera, so can tweaking a few words increase the potential attractiveness of a story, even one with some originally valid scientific basis.
2. Diabetes can often take years to develop. If there was indeed a high incidence of remission, it is possible that it might take longer than 2 years for patients to start to have signs and symptoms of the disease again.
3. Patients who underwent surgery also lost weight. So who's to say which was the bigger influence? And it took two years for remission to develop. If surgery really was the only influence, not the dietary change or change in body composition, it would likely have occurred much more rapidly.
4. Having surgery is not a license to eat what you want. Especially with bariatric surgery. I participate in a discussion group with dietitians who specialize in bariatric surgery treatment and it is clear, this is a serious, drastic move, requiring serious commitment to change. It is absolutely not risk free.
Your choice is your choice. But just be absolutely sure, before you opt for this solution, that you get all of the facts. And that when you have the facts you understand what they are really saying, not hearing what you'd like them to mean.