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Subscribe to RSSA new study in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrates that patients with severe, out-of-control diabetes who received either gastric banding surgery or gastric bypass, had lower blood sugar -- long before they lost weight. NBC's Robert Bazell reports.
A "sensational" new finding could be the beginning of a cure for type 2 diabetes, a disease described in an editorial accompanying the research in the New England Journal of Medicine as “one of the fastest growing epidemics in human history.”
Two studies find that weight loss surgery can eliminate the symptoms of type 2 diabetes in a large proportion of volunteers. That might not seem surprising, since obesity is the major risk factor for the disease. But in these studies, published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology, many of the patients got better within weeks, days, sometimes even hours after the surgery -- long before they lost any weight.
“It’s pretty amazing,” said Dr. Phil Schauer of the Cleveland Clinic, the lead author on one of the studies. Schauaer’s study divided 150 patients with out-of-control diabetes into three groups. One-third got the best drug therapy, one-third got the surgical procedure sleeve gastrectomy, and the last group gastric bypass. The goal was to get the patients’ blood sugar (measured by the A1C test familiar to diabetics) below the normal level of 6 percent. Forty-two percent of the bypass patients reached the goal after one year compared to 37 percent of the sleeve patients and only 12 percent on medical therapy.
But those numbers “don’t even begin to show how successful this was," according to Dr. Steve Nissen, another author of the paper from the Cleveland Clinic. He points out that at the beginning of the study most of the patients were taking three or more medications to control their diabetes. But after a year almost none of the gastric-bypass patients needed medication. Forty-four percent required daily insulin injections before surgery and none did after. Diabetes is a major risk factor for heart disease. Most of the surgery patients saw their HDL, the good cholesterol, shoot way up and their artery clogging triglycerides drop sharply.
“This is sensational,” Nissen told me.
The second study from the Catholic University of Rome and Weill Cornell Medical College followed 60 patients for two years and produced even stronger results. In that experiment one-third of the volunteers got drug therapy, one third bypass surgery, and the last group underwent bilopancreatic diversion, an even more severe weight-loss operation where surgeons block part of the small intestine.
After two years none of the patients on drug therapy reached the goal of normal blood sugar levels while 75 percent of those who underwent bypass did and as did fully 95 percent of those undergoing the bilopancreatic diversion. The authors of the study say these patients have achieved “complete diabetes remission.” Though the doctors have followed them for only two years, there is no indication that the diabetes is returning in any of them.
Why, in some patients, do the positive effects take place long before they lose weight? Marla Evans, 56, one of the volunteers who got a sleeve gastrectomy in the Cleveland study put it this way, “I was a diabetic, and then after the surgery, within a few days, the diabetes was much better, and within a month or two there was no diabetes in my blood at all.”
Most experts believe the operations somehow set off massive changes in the body’s hormones. Exactly what and how remains a mystery.
“This is hotly debated area,” Dr. Rudy Leibel of Columbia University, an authority on metabolic hormones told me. And it is critical because if scientists can figure out how to bring about the changes that control the diabetes without surgery or with far less invasive surgery, the treatment could easily be more widespread.
But even now medicine faces the question: Is it worth undergoing surgery that costs about $25,000 and carries a significant risk of dangerous complications and unpleasant side effects to treat type 2 diabetes? The answer, most experts say, is that most type 2 diabetics (type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disease not impacted by this research) can stay well with diet, exercise and medication. But those who cannot control their disease face complications including heart and kidney disease, along with loss of limbs and visions. One person with uncontrolled diabetes can run up millions in medical bills. So a surgery that was considered extreme not long ago may become a standard treatment for many people with one of the most common diseases of modern times.
Robert Bazell is NBC's chief science and medical correspondent. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
To read the articles:
- Bariatric Surgery versus Intensive Medical Therapy in Obese Patients with Diabetes
- Bariatric Surgery versus Conventional Medical Therapy for Type 2 Diabetes
- Surgery or Medical Therapy for Obese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes?
Related:
- Opinion: Deen's diabetes confession a sticky hypocrisy
- White rice may increase your risk of diabetes
Watch NBC's Robert Bazell speak with Dr. Philip Schauer, surgeon and director of the Cleveland Clinic's Bariatric and Metabolic Institute.
Dr. Philip Schauer, a surgeon and Director of the Cleveland Clinic's Bariatric and Metabolic Institute says for those who have poorly controlled diabetes, surgery is a viable option and called diabetes "a dangerous disease."
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I had Type 2 diabetes and hypertension and after years of trying to lose weight without success I had gastric bypass and lost over 100 pounds. Five years later my diabetes and hypertension are still gone. I am healthier than I have been in years. Yes, I must adhere to the diet prescribed by my doctors, but it's worth it. Diabetes is a nasty killer. You can lose your vision and your legs; your kidneys can fail; you're more likely to develop cataracts; you're more likely to develop heart disease and/or have a stroke. I consider myself very, very fortunate that I was able to have gastric bypass. It's not "easy" and you cannot go back to eating big meals and unhealthy foods, but it's definitely worth it. In the long run you save money; you won't be spending money on all the medications and on treating all the complications that come with diabetes. Most importantly you save your life.
i also have had type 2 diabetes since 2005. this is because i'm overweight.
January 1, 2012 i started a program where i completely changed my eating habits (made a lifestyle) change, including exercise. i got off my diabetes meds in 4 weeks and went from an 11.7 A1C to a 7.6 A1C in 4 weeks. i did not need to have the surgery. all i needed to do was get off my behind, start eating correctly (6 times a day), and exercise. i lost 24 lbs in 7 weeks and am still going.
i needed to lose 100 lbs ... and i am 1/4 of the way there.
abby - congratulations on your new found health and your ability to maintain your weight loss for five years. However, you are the exception rather than the rule. Only about 5% of people who undergo gastric bypass surgery maintain the weight loss for an extended period of time.
This study is significantly flawed on at least two counts. First, there was no control group of people who lost weight via exercise and diet to determine if those to factors would accomplish the same results without invasive surgery. Second, it is irresponsible to suggest that people undergo bypass surgery or any similar invasive procedure that has the serious possibility of complications or death without first exhausting all other means, such as diet and exercise. In some case, it has been demonstrated that exercise alone, including something as simple as walking for 30 minutes for 5 days per week, has the potential to eliminate the need for medication even when significant weight is not lost. In addition, anyone who is sedentary who embarks on a consistent exercise routine will lose weight over time as long as there is no increased food consumption.
ABCzyx--your information is deeply flawed. Walking for 30 minutes for 5 days per week is not going to reverse Type II diabetes. It maybe, possibly, with very young male patients of European descent, would help to prevent someone with prediabetes from getting diabetes--but many young males of European descent do not move from prediabetes to diabetes anyway.
People do not lose weight over time because they embark on a consistent exercise routine. This might prevent them from gaining weight--but a middle-aged woman has to do an hour of heavy aerobic exercise every single day to avoid gaining weight. Unless your plan is for someone to take up long-distance running, then your information is woefully inaccurate. If your idea is that someone would take up long-distance running, then your bogus example of walking 30 minutes a day is designed to mislead.
It annoys me very much when people with either no background in medicine whatsoever, or people who have bogus training in something like "health and nutrition" (a degree usually offered through an athletics program and worth about as much as a bucket of warm spit) start pontificating. Type II diabetes cannot be controlled by simple exercise. A tight control of one's diet (I am allowed 45 grams of carbs per meal--period, cannot go over it not even by one gram) can help, but it still isn't going to return one's blood sugar to below 6 A1C. Mine is 6.2-6.8, and that is considered "controlled."
There are many, many studies with diet and exercise as regards diabetes--that information is known, and it basically will not help someone who already has uncontrolled diabetes--no one bothered with that particular intervention because the kind of people with uncontrolled diabetes for a period of years (those who were recruited for this study) are the kind of people who either do not have the means to eat the sort of diet people want them to eat or the free time (or muscular-skeletal strength) to exercise for hours each day, or they are the kind of people who would rather die than eat rabbit food and run on a treadmill like a hamster. These doctors wanted to help the patients, and putting them on a regimen that they weren't going to follow and which would result in either serious injury due to continued uncontrolled diabetes or perhaps their death would have been irresponsible.
It's a digression, but you do know that treadmills were invented in France as part of the notoriously nasty penal system? The goal was to force inmates to walk on treadmills, going nowhere fast, so as to psychologically torture them. Just saying.
So, basically, I'd appreciate it if you would stop sharing the misinformation based on bogus studies run by "diet and nutrition experts" which have essentially no basis in actual fact. Diet and nutrition experts are known for failing to account for those who drop out of their programs, focusing on only those few who got enough benefit to feel like continuing, and not bothering to do follow-ups as followups woud prove that no continued benefits accrued. They do this because as individuals they depend on their own reputation for successful interventions in order to make a living. That is, these people have good reason for lying--they have a profit motive--and so they do.
You know that little phrase in teeny letters at the bottom: results not typical; your results may vary? That means "this doesn't actually work for most people, and we are selling you little more than an expensive placebo." Have a great day.
I'd rather eat.
I'm going to die some day anyway.
@beanathome...
I was an ICU RN for over a decade before I was recently disabled. You're wrong. Sorry.... but it's true. MOST type 2 diabetics became diabetics because of their weight. Exercise and diet equals weight loss and that means much better blood glucose numbers. However, not all type 2 diabetics are made the same. Some have damage to organs that regulate blood glucose... and that damage isn't going to be undone by weight loss. It has nothing to do with age, race, or how long a person has been diabetic, however. Most "brittle" diabetics are type 1, but I have met some type 2's who were fragile and it was because there was organ damage.
Anyone who is type 2 that doesn't have good control needs to find a good endocrinologist who can adjust their medication until they have better control. Simply allowing ones blood glucose to be out of control and not seeing a doctor and adjusting medication to attempt better control is unacceptable. I've met a good number of diabetics who refuse to change their diet and start to exercise. They refuse to help themselves... instead relying on medications. This is wrong and dangerous.
Due to my chronic illness, I was put on a high dose of steroids and rapidly gained weight that I can't lose because I cannot walk far at all due to my disability. I am now turning diabetic. It's 100% related to my weight. I know this not only because of the reality of how it happened, but because I DO have that medical background and years of experience in the field to have the scientific evidence to back up what I'm saying. Diet and exercise will lead to weight loss, and that weight loss can reverse diabetes completely or at the very least make it much more manageable. The people who have this surgery have a good chance at failing, because it requires a strict diet. If they weren't willing to follow it before the surgery, it's unlikely they will follow it after. It's a shame to see so many health care dollars being spent on surgeries for weight loss. For 99% of the morbidly obese, they CAN lose it on their own. It should only be used for those who are disabled (by more than body fat) who cannot possibly even manage short walks.
I Have Type 2 diabetes and my sugar was way out of control i also ran 3 miles and couldnt lose weight, Dr said its the meds that prevent you from losing weight. I had Gastric Bypass 3 weeks ago and my sugar is under control and only take 1 med from 3 and the 1 med is only half the dose. ive lost 25 lb and i feel great it was the best thing i did for myself. The surgery is a success this coming from a person who is skeptic about everything. And also my BMI was a 38 before surgery so i wasnt extreme
abby-1588585, you're on the right path, but there is one thing your endocrinologist and nutritionist are not telling you, and that one of the main reasons for your diabetes is due to the foods you eat, and primarily the carbohydrates. I was diagnosed as a Type-2 diabetic 6+ years ago, but mine is due to genetics and not being overweight. This past year I was able to "cure" my diabetes simply by changing my food to a higher protein-based diet, and literally cut total carbohydrates to 50-100 per day. It was an accidental discovery due to a new exercise program I started on, and I knew I would have to adjust my typical daily meals (5-6 small meals per day) to accomodate the increase in exercise intensity. I didn't want to lose weight, but lower my overall body fat, so I knew I would have to increase my caloric intake. My nutitionist originally had me on 45 carbs per meal (200+ per day) and I dealt with that for almost six years. However, after one month of cutting my daily carbs in half, my blood sugars dropped into the 90's and I thought my glucometer was bad. It was soon afterwards that my morning blood sugars dropped into the 80's and stayed there. I debated with my endocrinologist for several weeks as to what was happening, and convinced him to approve a 2nd glucose tolerance test. The results came back as non-negative. That's why I can say I "cured" my diabetes though I know I am at risk genetically.
I suggest reading a book by Gary Taubes (Why we get fat and what to do about it). It confirms what I learned on my own. It's not a high level read, and the author attempts to write the subject matter where the average person can understand it. But the basic premise is cut the carbs back to a minimum level and you'll be fine. You'll lose weight and improve your blood sugar levels. It's not the Atkins diet because we do need some carbohydrates, but not as much as we've been led to believe for several generations now. You'll still get your daily calorires too. Good Luck with your efforts. Don't give up, but I suggest looking at your treatment and don't be afraid to go against the status quo.
Why is this being written about as though it has just been discovered? This surgery has been proven to cure, or disable type 2 diabetes for at least 10 years. Medical researchers and the medical profession haven't learned anything about why in all that time? Very, very discouraging.
"I'd rather eat. I'm going to die some day anyway."
Indeed. Thanks for driving up our healthcare costs.
I had my surgery on March 11th 2009. I was 518lbs, I am now 309 and still osing. Type 2 is gone (was off all meds within 2 months) and the only medication I take now is for my psoriasis. No more blood pressure meds, nothing. I have fought with weight since I was 10 years old and now I plan on running in my first 5k race (not winning just completing) and I am so excited for it.
My brother, my best friend and myself all had gastric bypass surgery - we all had the roux-n-y procedure -- everyone should know that not all surgeons use the same procedure. A little background. The deaths of our mothers were both due to complications from diabetes. My friends mother, not even 60 when she dies was almost legally blind even though she had her weight off for over 5 years prior to her death - the damage was done. Almost every obese person on my mothers side of the family were diabetics until their deaths. I have 2 obese brothers - both diabetic - but my elder brother's diabetes was no longer detectable before he left the hospital after his bypass surgery. My younger brother has lost his weight (not with surgery) and is still diabetic - maybe he had it too long before he lost his weight or whatever - I don't know.
What I do know is that myy friend and I were not diabetic when we had our surgeries - they were performed over 18 years ago. We have both eventually gained some but not all of our weight back - I am now 62 and she is 60 - not only no sign of diabetes and believe me we are still (even with our weight back on) in better health than we were before our surgeries. No blood pressure medicine, no cholesterol medicine and great annual glucose tolerance tests. I don't know why and neither does she - we just keep checking - in case.
I saw two programs on television stating this phenomenon in the last year and a half. My doctor hadn't heard anything and neither had my friends'. I told almost everyone anytime the subject of weight or diabetes came up about what I had seen. It was almost like no one believed what I told them I had seen and heard.
BUT - I also told them that I never believed that gastric bypass would be approved as covered treatment for diabetes --- (it depends on the insurance benefits that a company purchases whether or not it's covered for weightloss - mine and my friends were paid for by our insurance companies but then - we owned our own small businesses and made sure our employees had the best benefits we could afford.
It wasn't the cost of the insurance or the procedure that I thought would keep the surgery from being covered as treatment for diabetes - it was the amount of money the medical community would lose - talk about job losses --- can you imagine for one $30-$40,000 surgery the millions of dollars in diabetes treatments, consuling and pharmaceuticals would be lost. Not to mention the loss to orthopedic surgeons for the loss of revenue from amputating limbs. My mother-in-law, suffered for over two decades from diabetic ulcers that wouldn't close --- some on her shins but the last one being a hole in her lower back (by her tailbone that you could actually put your finger in) that was still there when she passed away at over 90 years of age. Tons of treatments - no cures.
I love my doctor - he is a talented diagnotician - he listens to his patients - at least to me. When I say something is different - but can't pinpoint exactly what it is - he listens! He is into prevention as whole heartedly as he is iinto cures. He is frustrated with my weight (still 80lbs less than when I had surgery) but is amazed at all of my lab work - can't believe I don't have pain in my hips, knees, ankles and feet.
I will be so excited when these studies become more public so I can say --- remember when I told you......
So AMA, insurance companies, pharmaceuticals ---- get behind this surgery as a possible PREVENTION AND CURE for a horrible disease. I do have to say though that the first program I saw it was said in the cases that were followed for that program ONLY 75% OF THE DIABETIC SURGICAL PATIENTS WERE DIABETIES FREE IN 30 DAYS OR LESS -some like my brother before he left the hospital .
Maybe they will gain the weight back - but will they suffer and maybe die from diabeties? Who knows. I only know about me, my friend and my brother. (By the way I forgot to mention that my friends two brothers are "severe" diabetics and neither one is obese like we were - why isn't she? Surgery maybe?)
Could hurrr help end durrrr?
Thank you, Captain Obvious.
Weight loss surgery is for those with no willpower. So what it eliminates diabetes? Insurance companies paying for weight loss surgery is bogus. Lack of willpower is not a medical condition and there's NO way insurance should be paying for some fat a$$ to lose weight. Whenever I see the scale creeping up, I do something about it pronto. Obesity is an epidemic of laziness.
PCOS, Cushing's and a few others I can name are medical diagnosis that contribute to out of control weight gain with very little resolution no matter the "willpower" or attempts made by the patients. Do some reading, and you'll find that the vast majority are not covered by insurance for weight loss surgery. You're lucky if you're able to "do something pronto" and have no other conditions making that harder for you.
I'm sure you hold the same stance for alcholics with "no willpower" that need liver or pancreatic transplants, right? Or, smokers with "no willpower" who need cancer treatments, right? I sure hope you don't get injured in a car accident because you were speeding. I guess you would be displaying "no willpower" to control your speeding and should not get covered treatment for injuries, right? See, your broad generalizations are a slippery slope that can be applied far greater than your attempt at a snarky comment.
Who cares if a patient pays out of pocket or has an employer pay for weight loss surgery? Trust that a patient taking their health into their hands to have the surgery is far harder than it seems, and that patient will be much less of a burden by getting a 16K surgery rather than decades of paying for treatments related to co-morbidities, like diabetes.
they soon will be covered under obamacare if they don't have insurance already.....hopefully
As for this discovery.....FABULOUS
zohra - i am PROOF that if you change your eating habits ... (no sugars, no unhealthy carbs, no WHITE (rice, pasta, bread, etc, lean protein, veggies and fruit) instead of pizza, hamburgers, candy, pasta, etc. and you EXERCISE ... you WILL lose weight.
see my post above. i also quit smoking at the same time and didn't gain a pound, but lost 24, and continuing to lose.
Just means that you were one of the overweight people who earned what you weighed. You ate yourself there and did not exercise. I am so thrilled for you that you got off your behind and started eating right.
However, there are far, far more people who do exercise, watch what they eat and have weight problems nonetheless.
The insurance companies would disagree with you. It's a money saving operation for them. Generally speaking a person who is a candidate for weight loss surgery is usually on multiple prescription drugs and receiving treatment for Diabetes as well as multiple other ailments that go along with obesity. These cases almost always end up with the person hospitalized before one eventually dying. The cost of the surgery is low compared to the ongoing cost of treating an obese person for decades.
z0hra - good points. Don't forget steroid medications that some people must take. Those are notorious for causing weight gain.
raven - you might have lost weight, but apparently you also lost your reading comprehension, if you ever had any. You are showing your ignorance, as well. z0hra said absolutely nothing about healthy people not being able to lose weight if they exercised and dieted. He (or she) made the very accurate statement that there are some diseases that cause people to gain weight regardless of their diet and exercise habits. Google thyroid diseases, for one example. There are also medications that cause weight gain. Educate yourself. It isn't that difficult.
You're a total m o r o n.
I had health issues and stress beyond my control. I dieted (people always commented on how little i ate) and exercised. Yet I could see my weight go up 20 pounds in 6 weeks due to thyroid and stress issues beyond my control. I was taking medication for the thyroid...it was useless.
Then I got the gastric sleeve...the initial 2 weeks of eating 100 calories a day did not see any weight drop off. I finally got the biggest stressor in my life taken care of, and the weight dropped off rapidly. I needed the surgery...AND to alleviate my stress (while still dieting and exercising).
I still diet and exercise...but at least now it has a serious impact. You can not judge another's battles with weight. You have no idea what struggles they have with their health, or if they have a very stressful life that causes their body to release cortisol.
At this point I take in more calories daily then I did when I was heavy...yet my weight does not increase....actually I have to watch that it doesn't drop too low. I truly beleive that stress was the major factor in my weight issues...and THAT was beyond my control.
When I see someone struggling with weight issues...I do not put them down in order to feel superior. If they want my advice I give it. If someone is losing weight thru diet and exercise alone...I KNOW how difficult that is and offer encouragement and support. If their efforts are not working as they wish, I let them know that if they weren't putting forth the effort they might see even bigger weight gain so do not give up. It is a matter of finding what works for your body...everyone is different on what works for them.
FU...........K BSI!
..::raven::.. Congratulations for completely missing the point.
The point of this study is not that one has to do weight loss surgery to lose weight, and the loss of weight gets rid of the diabetes. The point of this study was that the bariatric surgery reversed the diabetes without any weight loss.
The weight loss is not necessary to get rid of the diabetes. Comprende?
What this demonstrates is that the truth that in many cases diabetes is a metabolic disorder, caused by hormone problems, needs to be better understood. If the hormone changes caused by the bariatric surgery could be replicated without the bariatric surgery, then most cases of Type II diabetes could be cured. No weight loss required.
Weight gain is a symptom of Type II diabetes--not a cause of it. I developed it--here is the progression. In one's 20's, one begins to gain a great amount of weight despite not having changed one's diet or exercise level. One adjusts (perhaps--I did) to eat smaller meals and to try to get more exercise. This limits the weight gain to some degree and postpones the problem. Then, one develops other problems--a dramatic reaction to blood sugar rises and falls. [By the by, my daughter exhibits this right now--if her blood sugar falls, she because utterly impossible to be around and can get nothing accomplished.] I complained about this to my doctor, he rolled his eyes, gave me the test for a blood sugar problem, told me I had no problem, and ignored me. One is faced with the choice of dealing with severe personality issues due to blood sugar, or keeping one's blood sugar continuously spiked so as to stay employed.
Any one of a number of things can then happen--pregnancy (happened to me), physical injury requiring the use of steroids (happened to me), a diagnosis of anxiety disorder for which the doctor takes the drug route rather than a simpler series of visits with a therapist (happened to me). All these things will result in dramatic weight gain due to the pre-existing metabolic problem combined with drug therapy which causes weight gain. I strongly suspect that in my case, it was undiagnosed Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.
Then one develops what is called Type II diabetes. The truth is that the metabolic disorder starts long before that--and if doctors would start looking for it in people's teenaged years and early 20's (it is characterized by an unexplainable and sudden weight gain though one has changed nothing about one's activity or diet), then we might make some progress. That we are now discovering it backwards--treating the metabolic disorder via bariatric surgery and curing it by accident--really just shows that people are so bloody committed to the idiot idea that weight gain causes Type II diabetes and if people weren't so lazy and gluttonous they wouldn't get it.
Calvinism is such a tired attitude towards disease--can we quit now?
No, it is NOT cost effective for insurance to pay for the surgery! Only about 5% actually keep the weight off. The rest go back to their eating habits and health issues. I've also taken care of many patients who had serious and life long complications from the surgery. It's just not that simple. Unless it's a medical issue that caused the weight gain, there should be no surgeries like this being paid for by insurance. Why? Just look at the cost of insurance. We ALL pay for each other's health care... even when it's private insurance! I worked for the largest insurance company. The prices are decided based on the over all costs the company had paid out. That means every single person who has that insurance and had a claim is counted. These types of 'elective' surgeries are responsible for a large portion of the nation's health care costs. It has got to be contained. People need to learn to be responsible and eat right and exercise. I agree that most of the morbidly obese people did it to themselves.
5% keep it off, really? Nice generalization without any statistics. Is that 5% of gastric banding patients, gastric bypass, gastric sleeve, sleeve plication, or gastric bypass with gastric banding? You seem to be an expert. Each of these very different procedures that have different outcomes. Let's take gastric banding as an example. The largest manufacturer, Allergan, of the Lap-Band shows an average of a 40-50% reduction in excess weight loss. with a properly filled Lap-Band, is nearly impossible to revert to old habits. Well, unless the patient enjoys barfing every time they eat, they can try reverting back. There is only so much room between the band, your 4oz pouch, your esophagus and your mouth. Yes, it is true that RnY gastric bypass patients can re-stretch their stomachs, and we often hear about these cases. However, there are other procedures that don't incur a high rate of slipping back to old habits.
jag24659: Where is this data you are getting? Oddly enough I know over 70 people who had this surgery running from bands to full bypass (I had a full bypass) and all are still at or approaching their goal weigh. Some have been there for 20+ years. yes, there are people who don't realize fully that this alone will not fix their eating habits, it still takes will power and it still takes hard work, however, If you don't realize that bfore you get the surgery you are likely to get very ill and have complications making you wish you did. Honestly, Purging is NOT the best feeling in the world, nor is blockages or in my case, I had severe constipation because I felt I didn't need to take a stool softener to counter the iron supplements I was required to take. There is no 100% to this. This is merely a tool to help.
I wonder why this article doesn't mention the "mini-gastric bypass". My sister got it years ago and her diabetes disappeared immediately. The web site claims a 93% cure rate for diabetes: It can also cost about $10,000 as out-patient surgery compared to $25,000 for the full gastric bypass.
I understand the mini is a little new (its also not able to be done on every one) but it does say in the article all weight loss surgeries. I think they might have just grouped it with the full bypass.
I guess it’s not official until some Doctors group publishes it??
I’ve known about this for several years.
Big pharma pays for the research...and they have been working overtime to keep this from the public.....big pharma stands to lose big bucks with this new understanding of bariatric surgery
Because the original finding came out years ago incidental to gastric by-pass surgery. They have been trying to figure out why it works. Clearly they still don`t know.
However, when we look at cost lets also consider that few people can manage their type II diabetes across their lifetime with diet and exercise alone. So you have to consider the $25K for surgery today versus the lifetime cost of medicines, repeated tests every 3 to 6 months (versus annually for your physical), the health consequences and costs associated therein of complications from type II diabetes...which occur no matter how carefully controlled the diabetes is. When all that is added up then perhaps the surgery is actually cheaper.
Then why didn't you publish it, Lem? Oh, that's right. You have never done a controlled study as is required to confirm any scientific discovery.
Ah, yes, izandroro. You are another paranoid fool who would rather believe the tabloids he reads rather than taking the time to educate himself. You might think that "big pharma" stands to lose big bucks if bariatric surgery becomes the norm, but how about the counter argument that all those surgeons want to promote the surgery so that they can earn big bucks? Do you seriously think that big pharma is going to lose significant income? No one in his or her right mind is going to rush to have a serious invasive procedure performed.
This whole "study" is a case study in how little medical science really knows and understands about the human body. As I recall the original finding that gastric by-pass "cured" diabetes was accidental. They were doing a gastric by-pass study and found the diabetes would sometimes clear up within days after the surgery. That is not what they were studying at all. They had several hypotheses at the time which were tied to chemicals the stomach put out in response to seeing food. The thought was that as the food did not touch receptors in that part of the stomach that the body did not respond with the chemicals. Chemicals which suspected caused the diabetes but they didn`t know how that would work let alone what the chemicals were.
Based on this article they clearly still do not know or understand what is going on. I have been pre-diabetic since I was a kid..... which we understand now that we know that there is a class of PCO patients where the PCO is due to insulin resistance. Until I turned 45 I was still at normal weight. After a certain point my weight got out of control and now I am obese although I work out regularly. I am still not diabetic but I am becoming diabetic as my . I maintain a good A1C by diet control and exercise but it continues to creep up. I am convinced after years of messing with my weight, seeing an endocrinologist, taking diabetes drugs for a few years and monitoring everything that the weight is a by-product of whatever is causing the insulin imbalance.....not the cause of it. Otherwise, I`d have always been obese and not the other way around.
This story shows the limitations of our understanding of the human body and how even after several years they have not figured it out yet. It isn`t the acid in our stomachs though. I'm on acid blockers for acid reflux and that has done zip for either the weight or the blood sugar control.
Oh.... another study showed that the relative blood sugar number (A1C or the glucose measured by the meters) was not nearly as significant as the blood sugar swings that occur. Those had a higher correlation with negative diabetes outcomes than the actual numbers. Just more information in case you missed that study. I think it came out in 2010 or 2011.
It's not about stomach acids. It's aout chemical reactions in the duodendum/upper intestines. After bypass, somethong chemically changes, and there is malabsorption of nutrients from foods. The good news...the body malabsorbs carbs/sugars, and type 2 diabetes is under control. The bad news...the body also malabsobs good nutrients. That's why gastric bypass patients usually have to take vitamin supplements, such as multi vitamin, B12, calcium.
Again, doctors to fully understand the chemical change/malabsorption issue.
O.K.. so after the diabetes is "cured" why is it life insurance companies still treat you as if you are a high risk client, and you get no breaks concerning premiums? Why is it that family doctors still consider you to be a diabetic, constantly ordering A1C tests and the like? If a person no long has as disease like cancer, are they still a cancer patient?
The end result is, while although you may be cured, there is just too much money to be made by categorizing a former diabetic as a "diabetic." Cha ching!!
I see where you are going with your argument, and there is no doubt that the disease is a money maker-- glucose meter strips, for example, are highway robbery when the technology certainly exists to create a meter that doesn't require disposable strips. However, I have to point out that when you are talking about diabetes, whether it be type I or II, there isn't a cure. Diabetics can maintain their blood sugar to "normal" levels, but this does not constitute a cure. Diabetes isn't like cancer. Just ask Drew Carey to eat a piece of cake and get back to you with his post-prandial number.
Because you are not actually cured. They consider you diabetic but keeping it under control via diet.
Drop the lifestyle changes you made to reverse the type 2 and it will come back full swing. That's why health insurance companies consider you high risk.
I feel like this study is another example of bad science on the diabetes front. If the medical community cannot even determine what causes diabetes, then how in the world can they find a cure? The reason that most type II diabetics can't control their blood sugar is two-fold: 1. Most diabetic patients are NOT referred to nutritional specialists to learn how to maintain carb control which is the main factor in controlling blood sugar. There is this notion that if one takes oral meds, then they should be able to eat in the same way that everyone else can (not talking sweets here, even salad dressing has carbs). Type II diabetes is not akin to a headache that you cure with an aspirin. 2. Many doctors who see diabetic patients are NOT endocrinologists and are not, therefore, educated to understand that diabetes is a progressive disease that requires constant adjustment of medication as the body begins to gradually lose insulin production.
I say all this as a type II diabetic who, incidentally, has never been overweight and therefore knows firsthand just how the "lifestyle" theory is bunk. There are quite a few of us that have always been fit, the media and the medical community just chooses to ignore us because the "disease as punishment" outlook cannot apply to us.
"A Mom", I'm with you on this one. I've been a type 2 diabetic for 17 years. I am normal weight and it has progressed to insulin dependence. The article doesn't mention if the surgery would work for "normal" size people who aren't 50 to 100 pounds overweight. Most days I eat less than 1500 calories, but still struggle with maintaining good glucose numbers. If it would cure me, I'd go for it, but with my luck, I'll be in the 25% that it doesn't work.
Because they have determined what causes it, you just are not reading the right studies. Diabetes is caused by over stimulation and then desensitization of the insulin producing cells of the pancreas. This is why people who suffer from diabetes cannot produce insulin in response to high levels of glucose in their blood stream.
If you want to help keep your diabetes under control start taking DHA along with your other prescribed medications. While it may not cure diabetes out rights, over time it may start to re-sensitize your insulin producing cells. Studies have been done that show DHA can prevent diabetes from occurring, along with combating Alzheimer's Disease and preventing dementia.
http://myoptimalhealthresource.blogspot.com/2011/03/dha-from-fish-oil-lowers-diabetes-risk.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21771974
Uh, Geowil, you do realize that the first website you posted is a blog written by someone who has a vested interest in selling you fish oil, right? The second website refers to DHA in regards to research on diabetic retinopathy and mentions nothing in reference to its ability to prevent or treat diabetes. If you want valid, scientific research, go to your nearest university library and search for articles in the New England Journal of Medicine or related medical journals that have no vested interest in selling you a product and that specifically address diabetes prevention and cure, not tangential topics such as diabetic retinopathy.
As a type 2 diabetic who lost vision in my right eye and has 40% kidney function, diabetic retinopathy is not "tangential"! It is possibly the worst effect of diabetes, as it impacts every aspect of life. I almost went totally blind, but my doctor was able to save the sight in my left, but only after 15 painful laser surgeries, 2 vitrechtomies, and cataract surgery (with no medical benefits, I might add - had to file bankruptcy). Finally after 5 years of suffering and drastic lifestyle changes, my numbers are normal and I am on the right track. Would I do the surgery? In a heartbeat - if it was free. I'm broke now - but still alive. However, taking 7 different meds every day and having to watch every single thing I eat is tough on my wallet and my body. I would give and do just about anything to retain some semblance of a "normal" life.
So don't judge!
This surgery would in fact cure type 2 diabetes in patients who were NOT overweight.
The extra part of the stomach, called the “remnant”, is
still working and producing enzymes. These digestive juices still flow
constantly into the intestine but do not mix with food until it meets the stoma
(where the new stomach called the “pouch” connects to the intestine) usually
150cm from the colon. During this time it stimulates the increase of insulin
produced naturally by the body. So basically what you have is a new endocrine
system that constantly monitors and regulates your blood sugar. It is essentially
a “shot of insulin” when needed.
Luke, a very close relative of mine had a gastric bypass a few years ago and it's not amazing. She isn't a diabetic, but hardcore chemotherapy fried her thyroid and she gained 150 lbs that were impossible for her to lose no matter how strict her diet and exercise regimen was. She had sleep apnea, high blood pressure, and would become winded just doing work around the house. After her bypass she lost the weight and is no longer winded, but her blood pressure is still high and her apnea is still a problem (all things that were promised would disappear). She can no longer eat food that isn't mushed up like baby food and subsists on protein shakes. If she eats anything with actual sugar in it, honey, or fructose, she vomits and has diarrhea. If she tries to eat more solid food, she gets a blockage (which has resulted in secondary surgery). A gastric bypass may help some people (and clearly it has for people like abby); however, it is not the answer for the majority and not an easy way out.
As for your other information regarding the endocrine system, you're wrong.
ABC, I could not find the article I used in an essay for my nutrition class, which I am still looking for, but there is a connect between DHA and fixing the insulin producing cells in the pancreas. There was a doctor that was up in some far northern country, I think it was Greenland or Newfoundland, doing a study on why they majority of the overweight people there did not have diabetes.
They found that it was because their diets consisted mostly of sea food which is high in DHA. Those were just to two sites I found first.
Here are some more sites:
http://jimfarquharson.com/Lipids/DHA.html
http://www.choc.org/pressroom/index.cfm?id=P00296&nid=456§ion=healthlibrary&keyword=Endocrinology
http://www.wellwise.org/blogs/james-townsend/health-blog-omega-3s-rescue
http://www.omega-3-fish-oil-wonders.com/omega-3-for-depression.html -another one of those sites that want to sell you fish oil, even so the info provided is true
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2011/jan2011_The-Beneficial-Omega-6-Fatty-Acid_01.htm
http://www.smart-publications.com/articles/phosphatidylserine-and-DHA-combat-alzheimers-disease -for my other claims
http://www.worldwidehealth.com/health-article-DHA-vs-Diabetes-Drugs-Did-You-Balance-Your-PPAR-Gamma-Today.html
http://www.lipidworld.com/content/5/1/10 -not quite related to diabetes but more proof that DHA does many good things for the body.
I'm one of many that have Diabetic ll and not overweight. I take one pill aday to control it. Checking my blood sugar regular this past 12 months. I have found out mistakes on my own of things that runs my sugar level up. Exercising of any kind,walking,mowing grass, pulling up weeds or whatever. You will get remarkable results on lowering your blood sugar. Being strict on the Carbohydrates grams is a must on the products you buy and eat. Many make the mistake of only looking at the label on sugar and overlook the carbohydrates. Which actually these two are buddies on your sugar level. I've been off cakes,cookies and donuts for along time, and it's no big deal for me. I'm not perfect and I do make mistakes at times, be it mash potatoes or whatever. I get chewed out by the doctor after I get back from a Las Vegas trip from some of the things I eat. I've learned alot, but no doubt I need to learn as much as I can. It's so easy to make afew mistakes. I'm 71 years old and have weigh 150-155 lbs since my high school days at 5'8".
Here's a clue you might be a diabetic. Before I knew it. I thought my body was backward to everyone else. After eating cakes or whatever sugar items. I would get tired and weak. Than I would go out and work in the yard, and feel better afterwards. It never crossed my mind that I was lowering my sugar level at the time. If you were like me, thinking your body is backward to others. You should get checked for blood sugar on a physical. I have no idea how long I was a diabetic until I found out from the doctor.The sooner you find out, the better you will be.
Consuming large amounts of fish can also prevent diabetes entirely. Or you could just mainline DHA, fish have the highest natural amounts of this compound though. There have been studies done that show that DHA improves sight, brain function, and also combats diabetes where it lives in the pancreas by keeping insulin producing cells from becoming desensitized. It also can prevent dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
http://myoptimalhealthresource.blogspot.com/2011/03/dha-from-fish-oil-lowers-diabetes-risk.html
These are not the first studies on this effect of weight loss surgery. Initial results were posted over 5 years ago and resulted in the allowance of diabetics with a BMI of over 30 being elegible for the surgery through insurance.
In the earlier studies, the hypothysis was that the absorbtion of carbs was effected. Most patients after gastric bypass have violent reactions from eating a meal high in simple sugars and will "dump" the food quickly, sort of an forced Atkins diet.
Many diabetics at their wits wnd have purposely attained the weight required to get the surgery. After 16 years, and several boughts with diabetic burnout, I understnad where they are coming from. Unlike cigarettes or alcohol, you can't break the food habit. You have to eat. As another poster stated, its not just stayinmg away from candie, cake, pies and sugary sweet, it the CARBS in everything from bread, veggies and fruits. High sugar fruit like bannanas can throw my BS all out of whack. In fact, I am better off eating a snickers bar, same amount of cabd but with some fat to delay the sugar resposne. Most non-diabeteics don't understand any of this and are quick to judge everything you put in your mouth.
There is no "cure" only control, this is why you need yearly A1C to continue, to make sure everything is staying on tract. Even cancer patients get tests every few years to make sure it hasn't come back in another organ.
Having gastric bypass surgery is awfully drastic for weight problems!
My mthod works much better: Eat less, move more.
And for diabetics who are not overweight, how does your method help them?
That's the fascinating part. It suggests to me that somehow the body's ability to produce insulin is directly tied to the size or presence of the stomach. Maybe a large, stretched-out stomach presses against the pancreas or something?
Most people with Type 2 produce insulin, it is just that thier cells don't process it to help turn the glucose into energy. Type 1 Diabetics do not produce any insulin.
Yes, but type II diabetics often (not always) also eventually develop a loss of insulin production in addition to insulin resistance.
I have the cure, don't eat so much.
I would hate to wish diabetes on anyone, but several of us might make an exception in your case.
How wonderful! The 'cure' for diabetes is to mutilate your stomach and starve yourself thin! Let's all jump on that bandwagon, shall we?
...mutilate your stomach and starve yourself thin! Sir or madame, you are misinformed and your comment is ignorant. You do not "starve". I feel full and quite satisfied eating less than half a normal meal...as defined by most portions a restaurant serves. As a matter of fact, the most revealing fact after having the procedure 5 years ago is this...I am AMAZED at just how little fuel it takes to efficiently operate my body.
You may be one of the very lucky ones for whom this procedure works, but don't assume it will help everyone. If you've done any reading, you know there are a multitude of horror stories about the side effects of this type of surgery. It is NOT a cure-all by any means and in more instances than not, patients gain weight back and have all the same problems they did before surgery.
If and when there is a medical drug solution that accomplishes the same thing as the surgery, I bet it's waaaaay expensive.
I'm confused...
We've just proven losing weight (even if it takes surgery to do so) can get rid of Type 2 Diabetes better than drugs......
How is this a revolutionary discovery?
If presented the scenario... any kindergartner will tell you that, if you acquire a medical problem as a direct result of your obesity, losing weight will probably help get rid of it.
I wonder if there is procedure to improve your reading comprehension. The point of this story is that diabetes resolves quickly after the surgery, before weight loss takes place. Read it again.
So my friend that is 5' 8" 125 would be cured of her diabetes of she lost more weight by having weight loss surgery. Yea, right.
She may not have to lose weight. Just put real food into her body, exercise they way she should, no matter her age!
What's her BMI and A1C? If they are bad, tell her to fix them! Don't cost money!!
Ignorance is bliss...?
It's not about losing weight. Please reread article. My diabetes blood sugar was normal 2 days after the surgery...certainly before I lost the weight. It's about changes in you digestive tract, and how your body absorbs and processes nutrients (and sugar). This procedure may not be the solution for your 5'8" 125lb friend. Does she have Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes?
Gastric bypass is not a 100% diabetes cure-all, but it is very promising for a majority of Type 2 diabetics. My doctor said that they don't really know why it works...they just know that it does work. He stated that the surgical procedure will open the doors to new research, and perhaps, new medications.
My parents developed Type II diabetes when they were in their 50s and were insulin dependent from the start. My dad was 5' 6", my mom was 4' 11", and they both weighed 120 lbs at that time. My dad's WW II Army weight was 140 lbs, so it's not like he ever had much weight to lose. I have had other relatives (all small persons) develop diabetes in the years since. I don't think gastric bypass is going to turn back genetics, nor will it make a pancreas new again.
I was Type II diabetic, overweight, and one kidney. With diabetes and one kidney, I was on a very slippery slope, healthwise. I was on oral meds and taking shots daily in an attempt to control diabetes. On April 7, 2007, I had gastric bypass surgery. Within TWO DAYS, and without any medicaition, my blood sugar levels were in normal range.
Five years later, my blood sugar, cholesteral, and other bloodwork is great! I'm statistically a low heart disease and stroke risk, according to my blood tests. I'm also about 85 pounds lighter. I am convinced that the surgery saved my life.
What very few doctors will tell you, and even more of them do not understand, is that if you give someone a drug that lowers their blood glucose levels (ie. insulin), they get hungry! Duh!?!?!?!? That is why diabetics get fat. Take the prescribed dose of insulin and the resultant hunger pangs will drive you nuts. Then the refrigerator door opens....
No one understands exactly why this surgery works, but it does. Now all I have to do is talk my insurance company into paying for it... Yeah, I know, good luck with that.
Rock
@Rock51
That's not been my experience at all. I've been on a low-carb diet since being diagnosed with DM type II a year ago. I've lost a good amount of weight and my levels are significantly better. I can count on one hand the number of times I've felt hunger in the past year. If we eat the right food, it does sustain us from meal to meal. March 2011 A1c= 7.6, March 2012 A1c= 5.5.
This is another situation where the medical community is totally lost. Suggesting that bariatric surgery is answer to type II diabetes is like suggesting that sending rocket ships up to the clouds to get rainwater is a good idea! The treatment for type II diabetes became blurred when injectable insulin was invented back in 1921 by Canadian Doctor Frederick Banting. At that time, less than 0.5% of the American public had the disease. We started treating both types of diabetes with insulin. Our National Health Care professionals then surmised that type II diabetes had the same underlying issue as type 1: the pancreas quit producing insulin. In 1977 Dr.’s Yallow and Bernstein received the Nobel Peace Prize for Medicine for discovering RIA (radioisotope tracing) that could measure insulin in the blood. This discovery shattered our preconceived thoughts about the cause of type II diabetes. The discovery led us to know that type II diabetics have copious amounts of insulin in their blood. Their tissues have just become resistant to its effects. It isn’t until the very late stages of the disease that insulin production stops.
What was said before is true, in that type II diabetics crave sugar in all of its forms. We now give insulin to type II diabetics so they can eat doughnuts. Most type II diabetics are obese, because fat tissue is usually the last tissue that becomes resistant to the effects of insulin and the adipose tissue stores most of the sugar in the form of triglycerides.
In 1960, the incidence of type II diabetes was 0.9%. Today it is 22% of the US population with another 28-34% being pre-diabetic (on the road to getting diabetes). This is a 1280% increase in 48 years!!! The average diabetic will spend $150,000.00-$180,000.00 on treatment over their lifespan. Nothing, not even Obamacare, can pay for this! The data shows that babies born after the year 2000 will have a 33% chance of being diabetic in their lifetimes, if they are wealthy. If the baby born after the year 2000 is poor, the likelihood of having diabetes in their lifetime is 50%.
We had a perfect storm hit us in the late 60’s and 70’s: the introduction of High Fructose Corn Syrup and the genetic manipulation of our wheat crop. HFCS 55 (high fructose corn syrup) caused the average consumption of sugar to rise from 110lbs/year/person to 150+lbs/year/person. The increase consumption is virtually all HFCS 55.
Also, modern wheat (Triticum Aestivum) contains 9000% more gluten than the wheat of our grandparents. The toxic effect of this “frankenized” wheat is laying havoc to the health and waistlines of our American public. Eliminate any and all foods with these two ingredients in them and we could see the end of needing bariatric surgery for weight loss or diabetes control.
Great post, PCT52! if only doctors thought like u... notice how the above article stated 0% (After two years) none of the PATIENTS ON DRUG THERAPY reached the goal of normal blood sugar levels while 75 percent of those who underwent bypass did and as did fully 95 percent of those undergoing the bilopancreatic diversion.
We need to get this country off prescription meds
any one who talks against this surgery is miss in formed my husband had his surgery 1 year ago and was off all shots and pills in 1 week and all high blood pressure meds in 1 month and has not had any problems since and has lost over 100 pounds. and i can not wait till my surgery health insurance stopped my last year new insurance now will get mine. any one who will not let some one who has struggled with weight all their lives take control and do what can save their lives has not had to struggle with weight lose and gain and should talk to those who lives it has changed. and leave the ones who seek this help alone with telling them its the easy way out its not we have to be on the watch for low blood sugar, protein intake and vitamins so not that easy but it is a god send.
I am a 53 year old male, 6'2" and 182lb. I have been eating real food for years. Eliminated all processed or manufactured foods from my diet, yet, I still had elevated blood pressure and higher than normal cholesterol readings. My Doctor was considering medication treatment. I told him I would look at my diet/food again and see if there was anything I could change before agreeing to medication.
I decided to start looking at where are food comes from and how it has been changed by modern science. This led me to "Wheat" and the acknowledgement that was the one food that was still in my food group.
So, in January, I eliminated all wheat and grains from my diet and changed nothing else. After 10 weeks of tracking my blood pressure and having my blood work done, I now have normal cholesterol, healthy blood pressure readings and lost 18 pounds. All this by simply staying away from "Wheat". And I might add, I sleep better, have more energy and feel great.
I would encourage anyone who is concerned with wieght loss, diabetes, elevated cholesterol and blood pressure, to first look at your food and then eliminate all wheat from your diet for 3 months. Remember to eat your vegetables.
"Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food".
I have heard the same thing about Milk.
Could weight loss surgery help end diabetes? Yes, after performing over 2000 Bariatric procedures, my results concur with the studies cited. Patients are screened thoroughly to be sure they had participated for years in diet and exercise programs before approved for surgery. There has been documentation since the year 2000 that gastric bypass surgery can be a "cure" for diabetes.
So, how long before the government controlling your healthcare decides, as PURELY a cost-cutting measure of course, that if you have Type-2, you MUST have the surgery?
Anyway, lotta musconceptions about Type 2 I see on this board. You don't HAVE to be "fat" or eat badly to get Type-2. My uncle has it, and he's in incredible shape. Man was still doing HALO jumps up until the week before he retired from the Army.
These bypass are pure non-sense. If weight was an issue as claimed why is over 80% of the Vets coming back of from the Gulf conflicts are diabetic? Those vets are not over weight or out of shape. This is a disease is caused by the numerous toxic chemicals used on roads as de-icers, and dust suppressants. Proof of these toxic chemicals being the main cause is the projected increases are mostly in the snow or rust bet of the lower 48 States. The facts are clear that no human health risk was EVERY done on any of the toxic chemicals that are being used. That includes the military use also. The toxic chemicals contain Arsenic, Barium, Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Lead, Mercury, Selenium, Zinc, Phosphorus, Cyanide, Ammonia, Molybdenum, Ammonium Acid and propriety corrosion inhibitors. NO one know what this mixture really does but is label a pollutant by the State of Colorado. This state has seen a yearly growth of diabetic cases of 22-25 % (annual increase) since the start of the liquid de-icers and dust suppressants in 1998. The toxic chemicals are the real fact in the increase not this weight crap. Again when a citizen of Colorado goes to an area that doesn't have these chemicals on roads the sugar numbers drop to normal, otherwise it up and down like a yo-yo without any help from medical treatment.
This weight garbage is a farce for more Dollars for Doc's and Clinics with out results.
My husband was over weight by 50 lbs and had diabetes, he lost the weight and the diabetes was gone. That is just for awhile, it returned about 8 years later and he was not over weight when it returned. Weight loss is a temporary answer to the problem.
It's probably lousy food + no exercise! Weight can become irrelevant
Diabetes does not"disappear". It stays dormant until some sort of bad habit(s)--laziness, lousy food, too much alcohol, lifestyle, lack of sleep-- triggers it again!
Diabetes can be controlled, but never cured!
Wrong. Bypass cures it and here is why.
The extra part of the stomach, called the “remnant”, is
still working and producing enzymes. These digestive juices still flow
constantly into the intestine but do not mix with food until it meets the stoma
(where the new stomach called the “pouch” connects to the intestine) usually
150cm from the colon. During this time it stimulates the increase of insulin
produced naturally by the body. So basically what you have is a new endocrine
system that constantly monitors and regulates your blood sugar. It is essentially
a “shot of insulin” when needed. It is VERY awesome how the body does this
post-surgery.
I was told that when you are diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, that you are a diabetic the rest of your life no matter what your A1C and blood sugar are. So are you saying that if your A1C is below 6 without medication that you are cured, and not a "controlled diabetic"? I really want to know.
@debnran
I asked my Dr the same question today, since my A1c is now normal (5.5). Her recommendation is that I continue with the oral medication since I'm tolerating it okay. I'm still diabetic, but now considered "in control".