Hundreds of medical studies prove that a new, healthier life is waiting for the vast majority of people who decide to have weight-loss surgery.

Let's look at the facts: Type 2 diabetes is known to shorten life expectancy by five to 10 years and 24 million Americans are currently affected by Type 2 diabetes.

What's worse is 57 million more have pre-diabetes which can progress into Type 2 diabetes in less than 10 years if lifestyle changes are not made. According to a study published by the New England Journal of Medicine, bariatric surgery was shown to reduce diabetes related deaths by 92 percent.

Did you know that weight-loss surgery may actually "cure" Type 2 diabetes? It's true. In fact, a very high proportion of patients - about four out of every five people - experience a diabetes remission a few weeks to a year after bariatric surgery, and, in some cases, before they even leave the hospital.

In a study using 22,000 bariatric surgery patients, 84 percent of gastric bypass and 48 percent of banding patients saw their Type 2 diabetes resolve after surgery, according to the findings published in The Journal of the American Medical Association. Current medical therapies and early screening have enabled more people to "control" diabetes.

Bariatric surgery is the only treatment that goes beyond "control." It is shown to improve, if not resolve, the disease and has opened the door for researchers to understand this disease and its increasing epidemic. The American Diabetes Association annually revises their guidelines based on this proven and promising research.

What about those patients who are not cured? The good news is that almost all of them are able to drastically reduce their use of diabetes medication and greatly improve their quality of life. The treatment of diabetes accounts for 10 percent of U.S. health care costs. Diabetes is also related to a vast number of serious health conditions, including high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, blindness, neuropathy, kidney function, and other complications.

The treatments for these conditions only compound the rising costs of health care. Minimally invasive gastric bypass surgery pays for itself within about two years, based on a recent study of more than 3,600 insurance claims led by Pierre Cremieux, Ph. D., MA.

How does surgery do this so quickly? The most recent research shows that diabetes control after surgery is more than just mere weight loss. Gastric bypass has now been shown to affect metabolic changes within your intestinal tract. With dramatic changes in intestinal hormones, diabetes is improved or resolved in patients just days after surgery.

This benefit actually precedes the benefit of the weight loss that occurs in the months following surgery and this belt and suspenders impact on diabetes is what is driving weight loss surgery as a mainstay in the treatment of this disabling disease.

The overall level of wellness achieved after weight-loss surgery depends upon many factors. They include the type of surgery performed, the pre-surgery health of the patient, and the post-surgery commitment of the patient to engage in a healthy diet, exercise and nutrition program. Weight loss surgery can restore your health, regain your future, and reclaim your life.