Is Surgery the Cure for Type 2 Diabetes?

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Type 2 diabetes is growing epidemic accounting for 90 to 95 percent of all diabetes cases and affecting more than 200 million people throughout the world. Now, researchers are hopeful they may have uncovered a new treatment -- surgery.

According to a new study out of Cornell Medical Center, the small bowel, or upper intestine, may be the site of a critical mechanism for the development of diabetes. Previous studies have shown restricting the stomachs size, through bariatric surgery, has a favorable impact on diabetes, but only due to massive weight loss. Now, researchers believe surgically rerouting the gastrointestinal tract can cause diabetes remission independently of any weight loss.

Francesco Rubino, M.D., lead author of the study and professor in the Department of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, explains the upper intestine of a diabetic patient may be the site where an abnormal signal is produced, causing, or at least favoring, the development of the disease.

“The lesson we have learned with diabetes surgery is that diabetes is not always a chronic and relentless disease, where the only possible treatment goal is just the control of hyperglycemia and minimization of the risk of complications. Gastrointestinal surgery offers the possibility of complete disease remission. This is a major shift in the way we consider treatment goals for diabetes. It is unprecedented in the history of the disease,” Dr. Rubino was quoted as saying.

Today, most patients with diabetes are not offered a surgical option, and bariatric surgery is recommended only for those with severe obesity.

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SOURCE: Diabetes Care, 2008:31;S290-S296