Research

Hormonal

Achieving short-term (2-year) diabetes remission in patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes is associated with significantly reduced long-term overall mortality and increased life expectancy, primarily driven by decreased cardiovascular mortality.

If you have obesity and type 2 diabetes, working towards diabetes remission (normal blood sugar without medication) is one of the most powerful things you can do for your long-term survival. This study shows that even if you only achieve remission for two years, it is linked to living longer and a significantly lower risk of dying from heart disease. You do not need to stay in remission forever to gain this longevity benefit, and you can achieve it through various means, including lifestyle changes, not just surgery.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
In this post-hoc analysis of data from the SOS study, patients who achieved short-term diabetes remission had increased life expectancy and decreased cardiovascular death over up to 32 years of follow-up.
Lena Carlsson et al. · International Journal of Surgery · 2024

Why this rating

Prospective cohort study with very long follow-up (median 26.2 years) and large sample size, but it is a post-hoc analysis and observational, not a randomized controlled trial of the remission itself.

Source

Mortality in relation to diabetes remission in Swedish Obese Subjects – a prospective cohort study

Lena Carlsson et al. · International Journal of Surgery · 2024

DOI 10.1097/js9.0000000000001807

cohort · n=586Cited 10×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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