My own endocrinologist referred to his sister as being “cured” of her T2 by her gastric bypass. I was stunned. He’s a very smart man who does a great job caring for children with diabetes and adrenal dysfunction, and yet… he buys into that whole thing.
The problem is that many early-stage Type 2’s DO see a remission of their diabetes with gastric bypass surgery. So the docs pronounce them cured. The bad part is that no one has followed these patients for very long, because the surgery itself is relatively new, so no one REALLY knows what will happen to them down the line. I would totally not be surprised if the diabetes came back; Type 2 is a progressive loss of beta cells, no matter what else has gone on in a patient’s body.
That’s why not ALL Type 2’s see the remission. If they are late-stage, and have lost a lot of pancreatic function, they may well not see any improvement in BGs. There may be other reasons for encouraging weight-loss, such as ameliorating arthritis, but curing diabetes is not one of them.
It’s too bad that in almost all the articles you read, nobody distinguishes between early and late stages of Type 2, yet their needs are very different. All the “eat less, move more” articles are actually addressed to pre-diabetic and early-stage Type 2’s. Nobody pays ANY attention to late-stage Type 2’s, who aren’t going to be helped, no matter HOW much they diet and exercise.
A new clinical trial at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center is among the first to test surgery specifically for Type 2 diabetes. The aim of the study is to understand whether surgery can control diabetes, as well or even better than the best medical treatment available today. This is the first study of its kind open to patients who are overweight or mildly obese.
Interested patients with Type 2 diabetes may contact the Diabetes Surgery Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell at (212) 746-5925 or ant2026@med.cornell.edu.
For more information, visit www.nyp.org and weill.cornell.edu.
See my full blogpost @ http://wp.me/pV7Ii-8L