Calorie Reduction Or Surgery: Seeking Remission for Obesity And Diabetes

The overall goal of the research study is to demonstrate our capacity to identify, recruit, randomize, and track outcomes for 40 adult Group Health members identified as having T2DM and a BMI between 30-40 kg/m2. Our cohort recruitment strategy will utilize the GH administrative and clinical databases to identify patients with T2DM and a BMI of 30-40 kg/m2. Sufficient numbers (N=4,000) of these individuals will be mailed and surveyed to identify the small minority without strong preferences regarding medical vs. surgical diabetes/obesity treatment. This subset will be invited to become better informed about both strategies using a novel, standardized patient decision aid for shared decision making (SDM) related to bariatric surgery: a high-quality educational video that provides balanced and frequently updated information about the risks and benefits of surgical and non-surgical care. After viewing SDM tool, potential subjects' "willingness to randomize" will be assessed, and a subset of willing patients will actually undergo randomization to either RYGB or a state-of-the-art intensive but reproducible medical/lifestyle intervention. Forty patients will be randomized to either RYGB or an intensive medical/lifestyle intervention. Twenty members will be randomly assigned to intensive behavioral/medical treatment, and twenty will be randomly assigned to receive gastric bypass surgery. In the non-surgical group, the investigators will study the feasibility and resources needed to deploy a state-of-the-art intensive behavioral intervention to promote weight loss, which includes dietary and exercise components. It will be coupled with diabetes pharmacotherapy treatment consistent with Group Health Clinical Practice Guidelines (http://incontext.ghc.org/clinical/clin\_topics/diabetes2/dm2\_poc.html). Patients randomized to the surgical arm will undergo a standard laparoscopic proximal RYGB, as commonly practiced by GH surgeons. The operation and post-operative care will be performed at GH by Dr. Steven Bock, Dr. Jeffery Lander, and their clinical staff, including a team of nutritionists and a Registered Nurse Case Manager who coordinates the care of patients in the GH Bariatric Surgery Program. Surgical patients will also undergo a standardized 8-week pre-operative and 10-month post-operative behavioral treatment regimen with the GH Bariatric Surgery Program. Participants will have follow-up research visits at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after randomization, where they will have the following measurements: standardized physically exam by Dr. Foster-Schubert; weight, waist and hip circumferences; systolic and diastolic blood pressure; resting 1-minute pulse; and fasting (12-hour) blood (50 ml) collection.