Gastric bypass isn't the answer (the diabetes cure ) for everyone suffering from diabetes but for many morbidly obese patients and those with hard to control diabetes , If not the complete diabetes cure it most certainly can dramatically improve type 2 diabetes in most of these people.
"Diabetes is an increasingly common disease that tends to keep getting worse relentlessly. More than 25 million American adults have [type 2] diabetes and as people age and keep gaining weight, 50 million are predicted to have it by 2050. Already, diabetes accounts for 5 percent of all U.S. health care spending. And it raises the risk of blindness, kidney disease, heart attacks, strokes, and deaths.
People with diabetes face the life long struggle of trying to keep their blood sugar levels under control. This requires daily, if not multiple times a day, blood glucose testing. Pricking your finger and checking your level with a blood glucose monitor. Constantly being aware of the sugar content in foods. Avoiding sweets and many carbohydrates that eventually turn into sugar. Taking glucose lowering medications including a wide variety of pills and often times insulin shots. It's definitely not a pleasant lifestyle. While trying to keep your sugar under control with these medications sometimes your glucose level can drop too low. An even bigger problem. If your blood sugar drops too low it can be life threatening! So as well as trying to keep your sugar down you need to be prepared if it would go too low as well.
Besides being a relentless, destructive disease it is also difficult to control. It's like a constant shadow hanging over you. [ Link to very good 4 part video on Diabetes. ]
Over time , chronic high blood sugar levels damage nerves throughout the body. Uncontrolled diabetes also leads to fatty buildup in the blood vessels. These damaged blood vessels can lead to blockage. In the heart, this blockage can cause heart attacks. A blockage in the brain can lead to stroke. In fact, people with diabetes have two to four times the risk of developing heart disease or stroke than the general population. Diabetics desperately need some kind of diabetes cure.!
Blocked vessels in the legs can cause pain and can also impair circulation. With poor circulation, small cuts or infections are less likely to heal. Eventually, 0.6 percent of all diabetics have lower limb amputations. Diabetics desperately need a diabetes cure !
Diabetes can also damage your eyes. The tiny blood vessels in the retina of the eyes can eventually become damaged when blood glucose levels are high. The blood vessels swell, weaken and then clog, so blood cannot pass through .As new blood vessels grow, they continue to weaken and leak blood into the vitreous of the eye. Light cannot reach the eye because of the blood. (Diabetic retinopathy) It also contributes to cataracts and glaucoma. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in adults! Diabetics desperately need a diabetes cure !
Diabetes is the number one cause of kidney failure. One-third of all patients with type 2 diabetes develop a progressive deterioration of their kidney function. Kidneys are remarkable organs. Inside them are millions of tiny blood vessels that act as filters. Their job is to remove waste products from the blood. Sometimes this filtering system breaks down. Diabetes can damage the kidneys and cause them to fail.. When your kidneys fail, you must have regular kidney dialysis treatments, a blood-cleaning procedure; or a kidney transplant. These diabetics desperately need a diabetes cure !
Diabetes is a dreaded disease. It affects so many body functions. Once diagnosed with diabetes you start a new lifestyle! You need to constantly be aware of blood sugar levels. That means monitoring your levels with a glucose meter. Everyone is different and how often you need to check your blood sugar levels will be determined by your doctor. Diet and closely monitoring what you eat along with exercise become an important daily routine. Diabetic medications including insulin are often prescribed when blood sugars aren't controlled through diet and exercise.Of course these medications ned to be taken daily and sometimes multiple times a day. This includes insulin as well, that needs to be injected. (you will need to learn how to give yourself injections) None of this is a cure for diabetes, but only a means of trying to control it which is usually not an easy task..
Weight loss is the first and best known non medical treatment for diabetes ! Even with medication, weight loss is always encouraged as a means to control diabetes !
So if you are one of the many obese type 2 diabetics out there Roux en y Gastric Bypass surgery is a real total life improving option for you! Less severe type 2 obese diabetics have been found to have the best results with gastric bypass as a diabetes cure.
Roux en y gastric bypass, considered the gold standard of all bariatric surgeries may not be the "end all diabetes cure" per say . There's still questions about just how effective it is. And how exactly it works as a diabetes cure. But there is a lot of research being done on it and there is a lot of good news.
A study, which was carried out at multiple sites, followed 4,434 patients at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, and HealthPartners for a total of 14 years (1995-2008). All of the patients had type 2 diabetes, which was either uncontrolled or controlled with medication. They were also obese enough to be considered possible candidates for gastric bypass surgery.
The authors explained that after gastric bypass surgery, diabetes symptoms may disappear for some patients - in many cases before they lose a lot of weight. Does this mean, therefore, that gastric bypass surgery is a "diabetes cure"? Not necessarily, after gathering and analyzing data from the largest community-based study that looked at the long-term outcomes after bariatric surgery among diabetes patients. For two thirds of the participants in the study, their diabetes initially disappeared after gastric surgery - however, symptoms returned within five years among one third of them. Gastric bypass surgery isn't for everyone. But this evidence suggests that, once you have diabetes and are severely obese, you should strongly consider it, even though it may not be a diabetes cure for all patients. It sounds like you have a good chance of beating diabetes. The best chance I've read about thus far!
In a recent NIH (National Institutes of Health) study, called "Look AHEAD", which involved intensive lifestyle changes for diabetes patients, the whole thing had to be halted. Even though patients had improved diabetes type 2 risk factors, such as a loss of body weight, improved fitness, better blood pressure readings, blood sugar and lipid levels, the risks of strokes, heart attacks and death were not reduced.
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Experts know that bariatric surgery is much more effective in reducing heart disease and stroke risk than medications, researchers from the Cleveland Clinic recently explained. They reported their findings in the journal Heart (October 2012 issue). Their study involved very obese patients, including those with and without diabetes. The Cleveland Clinic has done extensive research on the "Diabetes Cure " as well. Check out their STAMPEDE study. Full of good information concerning obesity, weight loss surgeries, diabetes and the diabetes cure.
Even though RNY Gastric Bypass is not the definitive "Diabetes Cure" Dr Arterburn added that a long period of remission after surgery has several positive effects, including a much lower risk of diabetes complications, less kidney and eye damage, and fewer strokes, heart attacks and deaths.
Researchers are not sure why diabetes eventually relapses in some cases. It could be due to gradual weight re-gain, or some underlying progression of the disease. They found that there was not a close link between patients' weight before and after surgery and diabetes remission or relapse.
In the end , if you are obese and have type 2 diabetes I feel roux en y gastric bypass is a 'reasonable diabetes cure" worth considering! I personally had type 2 diabetes and came from a long family history of diabetes. I saw my mother and grandmother both become legally blind because of diabetic retinopathy. My mother suffered a stroke and also needed kidney dyalasis . As well as had her finger amputated all do to morbid obesity and diabetes ! Eventually at the age of 74 she passed away from the devastating affects of the disease!
I was fortunate that I did not have uncontrolled diabetes and did not have it too long before my RNY gastric bypass. My diabetes was gone immediately ! After my surgery I never needed medication again. I'm so thankful for that ! Gastric Bypass was a Diabetes Cure for me. 3 and 1/2 years post gastric bypass living a much healthier, happier life!