Weight Loss Surgery Helps Diabetes
WebMD September 2, 2008
Researches show that obese patients who had gastric bypass surgery have dramatic improvements in blood sugar control. What’s more, these changes come far quicker than actual weight loss. Gastric bypass is not only “just a conduit for food transit” gastric bypass surgeon Francesco Rubino said. “We now know that it is also a very important organ for the regulation of glucose.”
Standard treatment for type 2 diabetes is not as effective as weight loss surgery. One of the theories while researching the causes of this situation was that surgery mends the expression of hormones responsible for appetite control, blood sugar and weight. But the studies did not prove this hypothesis. “We know from earlier work that the small intestine can produce glucose,” a diabetes researcher, Gilles Mithieux, said. “We showed that with gastric bypass surgery you essentially double the capacity of the intestine to do this.”
Gastric bypass produces a “double intestine”. The portion of the small intestine which is closest to the stomach does not receive nutrients. The lower small intestine becomes the main nutrient receiver by being attached to the stomach. “By surgically repositioning the lower small intestine, which usually does not produce much glucose, it ramps up intestinal glucose production and improves insulin sensitivity.” Mithieu said.
Even though the surgery does not completely resolve the problem, it is a very important part in the initial treatment against type 2 diabetes. Gastric bypass can help not only diabetic patients who are obese but also overweight patients who cannot have gastric bypass surgery as they do not weight enough.
