FRIDAY, May 8, 2026 (NewsDay News) — Metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) shows significant weight loss and joint remission compared to glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) at 12 months, according to a study presented at the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatrics’ annual meeting. 3 for 7 in San Antonio.
John Morton, MD, MPH, of the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues conducted a systematic review to review the available evidence comparing the effectiveness of MBS and GLP-1 RA.
Based on 30 studies (433,465 patients: MBS, 199,571; GLP-1 RAs, 233,894), the researchers found that total weight loss at 12 months with MBS was 20.39 percentage points higher than with GLP-1. For remission of type 2 diabetes, seven studies were conducted, the remission rate of MBS was 42.2% higher than GLP-1 RA at 12 months. Similarly, using weighted means from six studies, hypertension and hyperlipidemia remission rates were 12.8 and 20.8 percent higher with MBS compared with GLP-1 RAs.
“While GLP-1 drugs are an important advance, they do not match the magnitude or duration of results achieved with metabolic and bariatric surgery, which remains one of the most underutilized treatments in medicine,” Morton said in a statement. “When medications are discontinued, regardless of side effects, cost, or other factors, their benefits often diminish or disappear, while the benefits of surgery remain.”
Morton disclosed his affiliations with Teleflex, Olympus, Novo Nordisk, Regeneron, and Boehringer Ingelheim.
