CONTROVERSIAL NEW APPROACH TO DIABETES

The following is an abstract from a journal article that is sure to stir some controversy in diabetes treatment. For years docs have been telling patients to lose weight and get exercise to help control diabetes and of course this is easier said than done for some patients. It will be interesting to see if this approach is useful:


Physician's First Watch for January 23, 2008David G. Fairchild, MD, MPH, Editor-in-Chief
Gastric Banding Brings Remission in Type 2 Diabetes

Gastric Banding Brings Remission in Type 2 Diabetes
Gastric banding far outperforms conventional therapy in achieving remission of type 2 diabetes, according to an industry-sponsored, preliminary study in JAMA.
Australian researchers randomized 60 obese patients (BMIs between 30 and 40) with type 2 diabetes to laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding or "best practice" conventional therapy. When assessed 2 years later, 73% of the surgical group had achieved remission versus 13% of the conventional-therapy group. Likewise, weight loss averaged 20% of baseline with surgery and 1.4% with conventional therapy.
Editorialists, citing the Australian surgical team's high level of experience, say "their excellent results may not be ... reproducible elsewhere." And they acknowledge that the "general applicability of these findings remains to be determined." Nonetheless, they observe that guidelines for diabetes care "do not mention surgery at all, even for severely obese patients." They urge professional societies and clinicians to "reconsider the role of surgery to treat diabetes."
JAMA article (Free abstract; full text requires subscription)