"Gastric bypass https weight loss surgery https often improves type  diabetes httpsdiabetes.webmd.comguidediabetes_symptoms_types long before patients lose much weight https Now a new study from Duke University Medical Center and Columbia University may help explain why. When researchers compared patients who had gastric bypass surgery https to those who lost the same amount of weight by dieting https they found that the surgery patients had lower levels of amino acids that have been linked to insulin resistance https The study was small including just  patients who had the surgery and  patients who followed severely calorierestricted diets. And the patients in both groups had lost just a fraction of the weight they needed to lose at the time of the analysis. But researchers say the preliminary findings could one day lead to diabetes https treatments. Certainly weight loss https by any means improves type  diabetes https but there is something else going on with gastric bypass surgery https study researcher Blandine Laferrere MD of Columbia Universitys St. Lukes and Roosevelt Hospital Center tells WebMD.  Surgery puts the diabetes https into remission. Most of the research has focused on changes in gut hormones but we have shown that a decline in specific circulating amino acids also occurs. Surgery Improves Blood Sugar The study included obese https people with type  diabetes https who had a BMI body mass index greater than . Patients who did not have gastric bypass surgery https were placed on strictly monitored calorie a day mealreplacement diets. All the participants had lost an average of about  pounds at the time of the study. The surgery group did this in one month while the dieters took about two months to lose the weight. The analysis revealed that the surgery patients had much lower levels of several types of circulating branchedchain amino acids BCAA and the aromatic amino acids phenylalanine https Phe and tyrosine Tyr. They also had greater improvements in blood sugar https control. One month after surgery all of the gastric bypass patients were off all diabetes drugs. About half the dieters still needed treatment after losing the same amount of weight. In earlier research study coresearcher Christopher Newgard PhD and colleagues from the nutrition https and metabolism https center at Duke University showed that these amino acids were associated with insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease https In a news release Newgard noted that studies are needed to better understand how BCAA and the related metabolites influence diabetes risk. Laferrere says this understanding could lead to new diabetes treatments that are as effective as gastric bypass surgery. It would not be possible to offer this surgery to everyone with type  diabetes she says. About  million American adults have type  diabetes and about  of these surgeries are done each year. Gastric Bypass Surgery Risks vs. Benefits The American Diabetes Association ADA considers gastric bypass surgery an option for severely overweight https people with type  diabetes who have BMIs of  or more but less than half of patients with the disease are that heavy. Late last month the International Diabetes Federation which represents more than  diabetes groups across the globe called for weight loss surgery https to be considered a treatment for type  diabetes in certain patients with BMIs as low as . ADA Vice President for Clinical Affairs Sue Kirkman MD says while benefits of surgery appear to clearly outweigh the risks for patients who are morbidly obese and are not helped by other treatments this is not so clear for other patients. Like all surgeries there are risks she tells WebMD. The risks are the same no matter what the BMI but the benefits of surgery may not be as great for patients with lower BMIs. The study which appears in the journal Science Translational Medicine was funded by the ADA the National Institutes of Health and the drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline."