One of the most common diseases found in the obese and morbidly obese is Type 2 diabetes. Unlike Type 1 diabetes (previously known as juvenile diabetes), Type 2 diabetes is not developed in childhood and does not result from the underproduction of insulin. Instead, Type 2 diabetes stems from the body’s resistance to the absorption of insulin. About 80 percent of patients with Type 2 diabetes are overweight, and while it can be treated with prescription medication, the best treatment for Type 2 diabetes is weight loss.
Because Type 2 diabetes is often treated with a pill rather than an insulin injection, many people think that it is not as serious or potentially damaging as Type 1. This assumption is dangerous, as Type 2 diabetes can result in heart, nerve, kidney, and eye damage and can complicate certain types of heart disease, all while diminishing the sufferer’s life span. Because bariatric surgery results in weight loss and requires dietary modifications and exercise, it has proven effective at improving insulin-resistant diabetes.