(2 Apr 2012) Headline: Weight-loss surgery puts diabetes into remission
Caption: New research gives clear proof that weight-loss surgery can reverse and possibly cure diabetes, and doctors say it should be offered sooner to more people with the disease _ not just as a last resort. (March 26)
[Location: New York]
[VO: patient, doctor, hospital]
[Source: AP]
A YEAR AND A HALF AGO TAMIKKA MCCRAY WAS NEARLY 300 POUNDS.
DAILY SHE TOOK PILLS AND INSULIN TO TRY AND CONTROL HER TYPE 2 DIABETES…BUT IT WAS GETTING WORSE.
AS A LAST RESORT, SHE UNDERWENT WEIGHT-LOSS SURGERY.
WHEN SHE LEFT THE HOSPITAL FOUR DAYS LATER….BEFORE ANY MAJOR WEIGHT LOSS…HER DIABETES HAD DISAPPEARED.
[SOT/Tamikka McCray, Former Diabetes Patient]
"That was the crazy part. I didn't understand that when they came in and they checked it. My sugars were normal, nothing, I left the hospital with no medication. And I haven't been on anything since."
SHE'S NOW LOST 100 POUNDS.
THE DIABETES IS GONE…ALONG WITH ALL THE MEDICINE.
[SOT/Tamikka McCray, Former Diabetes Patient]
"And I haven't been on anything since."
DOCTOR FRANCESCO RUBINO OPERATED ON TAMIKKA.
HE IS THE CHIEF OF METABOLIC SURGERY AT NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL/WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL CENTER.
HE CO-LED A STUDY … PUBLISHED TODAY IN THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE…THAT GIVES CLEAR PROOF THAT WEIGH LOSS SURGERY CAN REVERSE AND POSSIBLY CURE DIABETES.
[SOT/Francesco Rubino, Chief of Metabolic Surgery]
"For a long time surgery has been seen, bariatric surgery, has been seen as a last resort for treating severely obese patients and primarily been seen as a weight loss intervention. I think the studies being published this week, and the research that has led to those studies, basically suggest we should regard surgery as a diabetes treatment, not as a weight loss intervention."
HE SAYS SURGERY SHOULD BE OFFERED TO MORE PEOPLE WITH THE DISEASE…NOT JUST AS A LAST RESORT.
RUBINO SAYS THIS COULD LEAD TO A BIG LEAP IN UNDERSTANDING ABOUT THE DISEASE.
[SOT/Francesco Rubino, Chief of Metabolic Surgery]
"The stomach and intestines are not just a conduit for nutrients but is basically an endocrine organ that controls metabolism very powerfully. So that when you change the anatomy of this organ you change the way hormones regulate metabolic pathways and therefore results in improvements in body weight, diabetes, hyperglycaemia and many other things."
WEIGHT-LOSS SURGERY IS RELATIVELY SAFE BUT LIKE ALL MAJOR SURGERY, DOES HAVE RISKS SUCH AS BLEEDING AND INFECTION.
AND THERE CAN BE COMPLICATIONS AFTER THE SURGERY LIKE MALNUTRITION AND HERNIAS.
PATIENTS ALSO HAVE TO MAKE CHANGES TO THEIR DIET AND GET REGULAR EXERCISE TO MAINTAIN WEIGHT LOSS.
TED SHAFFREY, ASSOCIATED PRESS, NEW YORK
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