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Weight-Loss Surgery Can End Diabetes
Intestinal rerouting works miracles, but science still debated
By Jonas Oransky
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Posted Aug 22, 07 10:52 AM CDT
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(Newser)
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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.