Diabetes is an incredibly common disease that millions of people live with around the world. About 90% of the people that have type 2 diabetes have the disease because of obesity, lack of physical activity, family history, and older age. Diabetes can lead to other serious health issues like kidney failure, amputations, blindness, or heart disease.
Traditionally, therapy for type 2 diabetes includes exercise, change of diet, insulin injections, or oral anti-diabetic drugs. Unfortunately, these do not totally eliminate the disease and, oftentimes, surgery is used to help with the patient’s extra weight. Gastric bypass surgery is a common surgical method that is used for weight loss and it can have a positive impact on a patient’s type 2 diabetes.
What is gastric bypass surgery?
During this procedure, the doctor leaves only a small part of the stomach, known as the pouch, inside the patient. The pouch holds very little food, generally only less than an ounce. This means that the patient eats less and has the ability to lose significant weight.
This procedure also alters the whole process of digestion. When the patient eats, the food travels through the esophagus into the new stomach pouch in the small intestine. Because the digestion process changes, doctors have seen that the surgery may help cure type 2 diabetes for many patients.
How does it cure type 2 diabetes?
The small intense will spontaneously produce a molecule called GLUT-1 that can help the body use glucose. A recent study that included 20,000 patients found that 84% of people that went through gastric bypass saw reversal of their type 2 diabetes. Even before they started seeing a difference in weight loss after the surgery, they saw quick improvement in blood sugar levels and didn’t have to take as much diabetic medication.
Currently, researchers and doctors are looking at ways to mimic the bodily processes that lead to type 2 diabetes improvement after gastric bypass surgery without actually doing the surgery.
If you have lived with extra weight and developed type 2 diabetes as a result, you know how difficult it can be on a day to day basis. Talk to your doctor about gastric bypass surgery to see if you’re a candidate for it, then contact our team at Weight Wise for additional information on how weight loss can put you on the path toward healthy living.