Bariatric Surgery Recommended by Diabetes Foundation

[Guest guest]

From Medscape Medical News

Bariatric Surgery Recommended for Obese Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

Lowes

The new position of the International Diabetes Foundation:

(and the bypass is much more successful in preventing diabetoc complications

than either the Band of the Sleeve - per other studies posted here earlier)

Sandy

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March 28, 2011 — Bariatric surgery is an appropriate treatment for people with

type 2 diabetes who are obese, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF)

announced today.

Although such operations cost anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000, they will reduce

healthcare expenditures in the long run, according to a new IDF position paper

on the subject. The surgery, the IDF explains, often normalizes blood glucose

levels and reduces or avoids the need for medication.

In addition, curbing diabetes can stave off costly complications such as

blindness, limb amputations, and dialysis, said Francesco Rubino, MD, director

of the IDF's 2nd World Congress on Interventional Therapies for Type 2 Diabetes,

meeting today in New York City.

" When we talk about whether we can afford bariatric surgery, we have to ask what

will be the cost if we don't treat the patient, " Dr. Rubino told Medscape

Medical News. " Studies have shown the surgery to be cost-effective. So there is

a return on investment. "

Under the new IDF guidelines, patients with type 2 diabetes warrant gastric

bypass surgery when their body mass index is 35 kg/m2 or higher, or when it is

between 30 and 35 kg/m2 and their diabetes cannot be controlled by medicine and

lifestyle changes. This latter indication is even stronger when there are other

major cardiovascular risk factors, including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and a

history of heart attacks, said Dr. Rubino, chief of the Gastrointestinal

Metabolic Surgery Program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell

Medical Center.

The body mass index action points can be reduced by 2.5 kg/m2 for Asians.

The guidelines were drawn up by an IDF taskforce of diabetologists,

endocrinologists, surgeons, and public health experts who met in December 2010.