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September 8, 2008 1:09:24 AM CDT

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Weight-Loss Surgery Can End Diabetes

Posted Aug 22, 07 10:52 AM CDT in Science & Health 

(Newser) – Surgery that shrinks stomachs and reroutes intestines can make diabetes disappear—but some worry the procedure is the wrong one for the disease. More than three of four diabetics who undergo bariatric surgery are left with no symptoms, and can even live without insulin. But docs are concerned about complications like nutritional deficiency—and remission is possible in some cases, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Even advocates of the process, which diverts food from small intestine hormones that are otherwise sent into tailspin, say the surgery must be prescribed carefully and to the most obese patients first. But a marketing blitz has helped spur a widespread rush to get the procedure, and doctors are concerned it’s gained a bad reputation in the process.

Source Wall Street Journal

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Amanda Munson, left, sits with her mother, Barbara Farnsworth, in their home, Monday, April 23, 2007, in Burlington, Ky. Amanda has lost 40 pounds since having bariatric surgery about 30 days ago. Munson...   (Associated Press)
Amanda Munson answers a text message from a friend while being interviewed in her home, Monday, April 23, 2007, in Burlington, Ky. Amanda has lost 40 pounds since having bariatric surgery about 30 days...   (Associated Press)
Meg Semrau, a nurse coordinator of Stanford's bariatric program, talks about research on weight loss at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif., Monday, June 18, 2007. Semrau had gastric bypass surgery...   (Associated Press)
Diabetes sufferer Lee Ann Thill, 34, sits at her home in Magnolia, N.J., Monday, June 11, 2007, holding her glucose meter as she gets ready, one of the numerous times each day, to check her blood sugar....   (Associated Press)
"It has opened up a new area" of research, said Dr. C. Ronald Kahn, head of obesity research at the Joslin Diabetes Center, who was not involved in the work. "But it's so unexpected, it's going to take...   (Shutterstock.com)
A diabetic performs an everyday blood test.   (shutterstock.com)
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health  • obesity  • surgery  • diabetes  • insulin  • intestines


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