Bariatric Surgery Considered Possible Cure For Type II Diabetes
POSTED: Wednesday, August 1, 2007
UPDATED: 9:02 am EDT August 1, 2007
MIAMI -- Bariatric surgery, also known as gastric bypass surgery, has been used to treat obesity.Now it's being considered for patients with Type II diabetes who are of normal weight or are moderately overweight.In fact several studies, including one in Miami, will soon begin on new versions of bariatric surgery just for Type II diabetics.Alex McKenzie, 58, had gastric bypass surgery several years ago.Surgeon Nestor de la Cruz-Munoz with the Surgical Weight Loss Center in Miami told McKenzie surgery was the best option for controlling his diabetes and high blood pressure."He told me the one thing I needed to do was lose weight," said McKenzie.McKenzie lost 160 lbs. and many of his medical conditions went away, including diabetes."The blood pressure problems went away. I don't have any more problems with my knees. I guess if you take 160 pounds off your knees it would relieve some of the problems," said McKenzie.Research shows weight loss surgery is doing more than helping people lose weight."What the studies have shown is about 80 to 84 percent of the diabetics I don't know if the right word is cured but they go into remission. About 70 percent of the people high blood pressure get back to normal. About 75 percent of the people with sleep apnea get cured of the sleep apnea," said Cruz-Munoz.Cruz-Munoz said these positive results are encouraging surgical alternatives for patients with type two diabetes."By trying to break down the gastric bypass into parts, that may have the same effect as a gastric bypass, may help normalize their hormones that are abnormal in diabetics and help the body reads it's own insulin better," said Cruz-Munoz.According to the doctor, obesity kills about 400,000 Americans each year and three million Americans will die from diabetes this year.Those staggering numbers helped McKenzie choose surgery and change his life forever."I really wanted to get the weight off. I didn't want to die young of obesity," said McKenzie.Studies on these surgical alternatives will be taking place in several countries.To find out more about the Miami study, contact Cruz-Munoz at the Surgical Weight Loss Center on the campus of Cedars Medical Center in Miami at 305-856-4385.
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