Weight loss surgery is a face and potentially risky way to treat type 2 diabetes However, more studies are showing, can also be very successful - in some cases, more than the changes of drugs and Lifestyle.
Despite which experts are calling "remarkable" results, however, they are not saying that weight loss surgery is a cure.
And it's not for everyone, they stress.
Here is what they know: A recent study discovered that type 2 diabetes can stay in remission for up to 15 years after weight loss surgery. Remission happens when a person with diabetes reaches blood sugar levels no longer in the interval of diabetes without medications for at least one year.
The survey reinforced previous short-term discoveries that suggest that surgery somehow changes the metabolism of the body and calms the diabetes in certain people.Surgeons who routinely surgery say they are not surprised by the study discoveries. It has shown that 30% of people with type 2 diabetes were on 15-year post-surgery remission, compared to 7% whose diabetes was managed with drugs and lifestyle changes.
Surgery could be a savings of life for certain obese people with diabetes, experts say. They include people who:
- I tried to lose weight by the traditional methods, but could not
- I have problems managing your diabetes
- had diabetes for less than 4 years
Even among people with diabetes that are good candidates, surgery should not become the first treatment they try, expert say.
"We are absolutely the last stop. We are there for the person who tried everything," says Richard Stahl, MD. He is the medical director of bariatric surgery at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.
Surgery recovery can take up to 2 weeks. In addition, people who receive surgery should still make great lifestyle changes to keep the benefits.
"It's not a simple solution, it's a great deal to qualify, and it's not simple to recover," says Stahl.
It is also covered by insurance, according to American society for metabolic and bariatric surgery. The recent findings of this study and several others should add the discussion about whether insurance guidelines should be expanded to include surgery for less obese people - and also about whether surgery is the best way to treat diabetes.
The average cost of weight loss surgery ranges from $ 11,500 to $ 26,500, says Amber Hamilton, a spokesman for the company. Costs depend on the type of surgery and where it is done. Three types are common in U.S. - BYPASS, gastric sleeve and gastric band. Insurance companies vary in their reimbursement policies, says Hamilton. The procedures are covered under the Actionable Care Act in 22 states, it says.
Tapeworms For Weight Loss - Weight Loss Surgery: Diabetes Cure?
Diabetes has been increased in the United States for decades, rising at 29.1 million in 2012, according to CDC. It is marked by high continuous levels of blood sugar, and can lead to heart disease and stroke, blindness, renal failure, amputation and premature death. Estimated direct economic cost of diabetes care grew for $ 245 billion in 2012, an increase of 40% of $ 174 billion in 2007, according to American diabetes association.
Type 2 diabetes is responsible for 90% of those with diabetes. Most people with type 2 is obese, which causes insulin resistance and problems to control disease and their complications.
Much of the effort to contain the tide of diabetes focused on weight loss, preventing weight gain and managing it through drugs and lifestyle changes.But many with diabetes find it difficult to manage disease with drugs and lifestyle changes.
In addition, weight gain is one of the side effects of insulin and some other drugs used to treat diabetes.
. Insulin is "a lifeguard medicine, but it can make you gain more weight," says John Morton, MD. He is the chief of bariatric and minimally invasive surgery at the Medical Center of the University of Stanford
The disease can be expensive as well. People with diabetes can spend about $ 13,700 per year in medical costs, according to a 2013 American diabetes association report. Of this, about $ 7,900 are tied to diabetes. In a report published in April 2014, the express scripts said that "the medicines used to treat diabetes were the most expensive traditional therapy class when classified by member per year."
Morton and other surgeons say they saw dramatic drops at insulin levels in their post-surgery patients over the years.
"was considered a weight loss operation, but it is truly a metabolic operation," says Morton.
That said, no one understands how this happens, so more study is needed.
In addition, those who suffer weight loss surgery should be prepared to assume changes in lifestyle, such as a healthier diet and exercises.
"Surgery itself works well when you do these other things," says Marc Bessler, MD, a weight surgeon at Columbia University Medical Center.
A benefit of surgery is that patients are usually more inclined to exercise, says Bessler. "Think about what it is to exercise if you are a hundred lighter pounds."
But even if people lose up to 100 pounds of surgery, diabetes is unlikely to be the remission if they have the disease for more than 4 years. Cells in the pancreas called Beta cells that make insulin die over time and can not be replaced.
"If you missed a large piece of your Beta cell population, you will not have the same benefit," says Dana Pornier, MD. He is a weight loss surgeon at Duke University School of Medicine.
Some doctors say that the recent study is not perfect.
The authors "do not go for what kind of lifestyle changes there was and how intense," says Taraneh Soleymani, MD. She is the co-director of weight loss medicine at the School of Medicine at the University of Alabama.
Surgery has possible disadvantages. They include weight recover, malnutrition, nausea, swelling, vomiting, gallery calculations and lack of certain vitamins.
But "I would recommend if the diabetes is not well controlled," says Endocrinologist Richard Siegel, MD. He is the co-director of Diabetes Center at Tufts Medical Center. "Bariatric surgery is the best we have to get weight and blood sugar for a long period of time."
