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Jan 23, 2008 12:21 pm US/Central
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Obesity Surgery Cures Some Diabetes Patients
PITTSBURGH (CBS) ―
An unconventional approach to help obese people with their diabetes is the focus of a study in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association.
The procedure has only been available in the U.S. a few years, but in this small Australian study, it helped almost three-quarters of patients getting it.
Diabetes is typically managed with medication.
Rose Provan, an intensive care unit nurse from Bridgeville, Pa., had weight loss surgery and her high blood sugars fell dramatically, reported CBS station KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh.
"Three weeks after the surgery, it really started to come down nicely. And then about six months later, I didn't have to take anything anymore," she said.
Researchers conducted a trial of 60 people like Rose. They had adult onset diabetes and their body mass index put them in the obese range.
Half got conventional treatment while the other half got conventional treatment plus gastric banding surgery.
A silicone band is put in laparoscopically, and it's wrapped around the upper part of the stomach so patients feel fuller faster.
Based on blood tests at the end of two years, remission of the diabetes was seen in only four out of 30 in the group getting standard care, but 22 out of the 30 in the group who also got surgery.
"Just weight loss alone, no matter how you achieve it, has an impact on the resolution of Type two diabetes," Dr. Joseph Colella, a surgeon at Allegheny General Hospital, said.
But weight loss alone doesn't explain why some people didn't respond.
"We know that there's something else that goes on, a biochemical change," Dr. Colella said.
And that change may not happen in everyone, even with the surgery.
For Rose, her weight and blood sugar have fallen, but that's not all.
"My blood pressure is coming down, too. Cholesterol is great, I don't take anything for that anymore."
With any surgery there's a risk of bleeding and infection and possible problems with any devices put into the body.
Longer-term studies of more people will be needed before we know if gastric banding is a reasonable strategy for controlling diabetes.
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