Important new research from Norway has been published by a team which includes EASO VP, Northern Region Joran Hjelmeseth. We are pleased to speak with Joran Hjelmeseth about the Osberg study.
Regarding the acronym Oseberg (Obesity surgery in Tønsberg), Dag Hofsø, the first author, and Joren Hjelmeseth, chose this acronym because the Oseberg ship is a Norwegian famous Viking ship which was discovered at the Oseberg farm near Tønsberg.
Please tell us about your exciting new publication in Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology: This publication reports the primary results from our Oseberg study. Senior researcher PhD Dag Hofsø at the Morbid Obesity Centre, Vestfold Hospital Trust, was the first of us to acknowledge the need for a study comparing the effects of the two most common bariatric procedures on remission of diabetes, and he wrote the initial draft and completed the protocol in 2012. He has also been leading our large research team during the 6-year study period. The study is ongoing with at least 5-year follow-up. Dag will also be attending the Obesity Week.
The Oseberg study provides the first evidence from a triple-blind, randomised controlled trial that gastric bypass is superior to sleeve gastrectomy regarding remission of diabetes as a primary outcome. Before the start of this study (2013) no randomised trial had compared the efficacy of gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy on remission of diabetes as a primary outcome. However, one landmark trial (STAMPEDE) reported 1-year remission of diabetes as a secondary endpoint with no significant differences between groups in 2012.
This research is important for people with type II diabetes and may have an impact on patient selection of surgical intervention.
Yes, our finding of a substantially greater effect of gastric bypass on remission of type 2 (not II) diabetes (3 out of 4 patients) than sleeve gastrectomy (2 out of 4 patients) might have important individual and societal implications. However, it is necessary to investigate whether these differences will remain significant after longer-term follow-up. We will do that (5-year follow-up).
What has the response been to the research so far?
The publication was accompanied by a comment by professor Paul O`Brien from Australia. He wrote that “Substantial and durable weight loss can lead to remission of type 2 diabetes for some individuals who are overweight or obese, with huge potential health benefits. In The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, Dag Hofsø and colleagues report results from the Oseberg study, which take us an important step closer to realising this potential.” , and he concluded that “Comparison of gastric bypass with other surgical options will be valuable, but the difference between the two most common bariatric procedures has now been shown.”
In this PDF you will find the patient flow and the major findings.
We will present other important results from Oseberg and other studies in Las Vegas at Obesity Week 2019. Most importantly, our PhD candidate Jolanta Lorentzen will present the 1-year data on gastroesophagal reflux disease in the Oseberg-study (Top 10 paper session ASMBS). Jens Kristoffer Hertel, Head of Research in Tønsberg, will also have an oral presentation in TOS.
About the author: Jøran Hjelmesæth is a board-approved specialist in Internal Medicine and Nephrology and the Head of the Morbid Obesity Centre, Vestfold Hospital Trust – designated a Collaborating center for Obesity Management by the European Association for the Study of Obesity. He is also a Professor of Medicine at the Department of Endocrinology, Morbid Obesity and Preventive Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway.
Hjelmesæth has published approximately150 papers in the fields of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and bariatric surgery.
Hjelmesæth is also the current leader of the Norwegian Nutrition Council, a SCOPE European Fellow, International Association for the Study of Obesity, former President of the Norwegian Association for the Study of Obesity, and Honourable Member of the Norwegian Association for the Study of Obesity.