Uncontrolled Diabetes Can Now be Controlled

• Gastric Bypass is a surgical procedure that involves making your stomach smaller, allowing food to bypass part of your small intestine.
• There are not many people who know that patients suffering from Type 2 diabetes and severe obesity can opt for surgery for remission of diabetes.
• Surgery should be considered as an alternative treatment option in patients with a BMI between 30 and 35 kg/m2 when diabetes cannot be adequately controlled by optimal medical regimen, especially in the presence of other major cardiovascular disease risk factors.
• The surgery for adolescents can be recommended with BMI > 40 kg/m2 or > 35 kg/m2 with severe co-morbidities including Type 2 diabetes.
• Post-operative therapy and regular follow-up is essential for best results and complete success.

Many people are not aware that gastric bypass surgery when performed by experts under the right conditions and guidance can result in the possible treatment of Type 2 diabetes & severe obesity.

Type 2 diabetes is progressive in nature and normally coupled with obesity which can have life-threatening consequences.

Talking about the treatment of diabetes and obesity, Dr Shabeer Ahmed shared, “the continuing mortality in people with diabetes is a sign that the answer to best management for Type 2 diabetes for maximizing metabolic control is still elusive. Given this scenario, the option of stomach intervention needs to be considered in appropriately selected individuals.”

“Surgery for the severely obese with Type 2 diabetes should be considered early as an option for eligible patients, rather than being held back as a last resort. Type 2 diabetes is a heterogeneous disorder and while its causes have yet to be fully explained. However, obesity is considered the primary risk factor. It has been estimated that the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes is increased 93-fold in women and 42-fold in men who are severely obese rather than of healthy weight,” added Dr. Shabeer Ahmed.

“Strategies like lifestyle interventions to promote weight loss and increased physical activity have very limited success in controlling blood glucose levels among the severely obese, with many of these patients not achieving targets. A number of these medications used for treating Type 2 diabetes, including insulin, themselves can result in weight gain,” said Prof. Dr. C V Harinarayan, Consultant Endocrinologist, Fortis Hospitals.

“The global prevalence of Type 2 diabetes is rising dramatically, driven by an ‘obesogenic’ environment that favours increasing sedentary behaviour and easier access to attractive calorie-dense foods acting on susceptible genotypes. The most recent global predictions by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) suggest that there are 285 million people with diabetes currently worldwide” he said.

This is set to escalate to 438 million by 2030, with a further half billion at high risk. Diabetes is looming as one of the greatest public health threats of the 21st century. Type 2 diabetes is a risk factor for heart damage both micro-vascular (eye failure; kidney damage and brain disease) and macro-vascular (premature and more extensive heart and brain). Premature death in diabetes results from such complications.