According to a commentary, surgery for diabetes seems to be safe, effective in terms of glycaemic control, and is now associated with reduced complications of diabetes; but the ultimate question is whether diabetes surgery is associated with reduced mortality. The commentators note that extension of follow-up in the trials already done, and future well-designed and appropriately powered studies, will provide some much needed answers. Until then, they highlight that surgery will need to remain safe and become more available because only a few patients who will benefit are currently offered this potentially life-saving option. They add that the driving force to facilitate the implementation of change in health-care delivery, particularly in the current financial environment, will have to be multidisciplinary.
An editorial highlights that education is vital to the fight against diabetes and draws attention to new data published by Public Health England (PHE), which suggest that about 5 million adults in England are pre-diabetic.
An update of the NICE guideline on type 2 diabetes is underway and anticipated in October 2015. The NICE guideline on obesity published in November 2014 gives recommendations on bariatric surgery in people with recent-onset type 2 diabetes