January
2008
Lap Bands and Type 2 Diabetes
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Lifestyle change or stomach change?
While caution is required in interpreting the longer-term benefits of surgery and weight loss, this study presents strong evidence to support the early consideration of surgically induced loss of weight in the treatment of obese patients with type 2 diabetes.
via Science Daily
I have to comment on this recent study that confirms, albeit circuitously, what we have said here for years: type 2 diabetes can be cured. In this case, the so-called medical solution falls under my Rube Goldberg term “Digging a hole to put the ladder in to wash the basement windows.” In this study we see that portion control - when rigorously enforced using risky lap-banding surgery - actually improves insulin sensitivity and, hence, returns blood sugar to more normal levels. Duh. And don’t you love this quote: “Type 2 diabetes is a disease that should aggressively be treated with surgery and not merely controlled with medications.”? Wow.
I have said for years that type 2 diabetes is both preventable and curable in 99% of cases. It’s a matter of appropriate exercise choices, portion control and the right mix of protein and healthy fats. Cutting sugars and simple carbs is critical to the process. It doesn’t require risky surgical procedures. Watch those people on “Biggest Loser.” No matter who they are, they ALL lose weight in a matter of weeks and they all experience big improvement in blood glucose metabolism. And they’re not even cutting the carbs as much as I would have them do!
This video is from last night’s broadcast of NBC Nightly News. Watch the whole thing if you would like but pay special attention to the quote at the 1:40 mark in the video. I am almost speechless.
On a related note:
High-risk morbidly obese patients who lose 5 to 10 percent of their excess body weight before undergoing gastric bypass surgery appear to have shorter hospital stays and more rapid postoperative weight loss, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Surgery, a theme issue on bariatric surgery.
via Science Daily
People who undergo bariatric surgery are encouraged to lose 10% of their body weight before the surgery to improve their recovery! If they can lose 10% of their weight themselves in time for the weight-loss surgery, why are they having the surgery at all?
Hit me up with a comment!
Photo Source
Further Reading:
The Definitive Guide to Insulin, Blood Sugar & Type 2 Diabetes
Jimmy Moore: Woman Chooses Low-Carb Over Lap Band
Technorati Tags: diabetes, lap band, Biggest Loser, bariatric surgery
I agree with much of what you’re saying here, but I think a blanket statement like “Type II diabetes is curable” is a little bit inaccurate. Whether it is curable or not depends in part on how much damage has been done to the pancreatic beta cells, which are responsible for producing insulin. If these cells are only beginning to quit, yes, I think Type II diabetes is probably curable. Or at least, it is possible to control it so tightly that it is as if one is cured.
This would imply that early detection is key. However, according to my doctor, the current medically accepted definiton of diabetes is two consecutive fasting blood glucose measures over a certain number (I think 120, but I can’t remember for sure). The problem with this definition is that by the time fasting blood sugar levels are that out of whack, the patient could very well have already had a disordered glucose metabolism for years, which implies some level of damage to the beta cells. A better measure of incipient diabetes is a fasting glucose tolerance test; better still is a GTT with insulin levels. But since diabetes is not “defined” as disordered glucose metabolism outside of fasting glucose levels, many doctors refuse to order GTTs.
Why do we advocate early detection for so many other degenerative diseases, but not diabetes?
And my doctor is not some rural quack who is out of sync with the current wisdom. She practices and teaches at a prestigious teaching hospital affiliated with one of the finest medical schools in the country. The definition she gave me probably represents the current state of the art for diabetes diagnosis. But if I had waited until my fasting BG was elevated, I am skeptical whether diet or exercise would restore my beta cells.
Mark, you and the worker bees have to stop writing so many great posts - a girl’s gotta get some work done!
Oh my God! Dr. George should be prosecuted for that comment and lose his license! What’s he do for a living, bariatric surgery? At least check his real estate investment portfolio, I’m sure a surgery center is in there somewhere. Before this, he was probably prescribing fen-phen.
When doctors as a group become healthier than I am, or even if I find a single MD who is healthier than I am, I will listen to what they have to say. Was it Jack LaLanne who dropped out of medical school because he found it to be a load of crap in regards to actually making people healthy.
Medical care is a business and a business does not make money by losing its customers…
Is this bariatric or barbaric surgery?
I believe a chnage to a Primal or Evolutionary Diet would be the better alternative.
I only can see what has happened to me without surgery.
When it comes down to “weight loss” i don’t believe in quick fixes. I believe that anyone CAN lose their desired weight if they just exercise and eat the right things. If they “believe” they CAN lose 10% of their body weight, why can’t they “believe” they CAN lose “ALL” their desired weight!!! I also believe that it’s wisdom if you want to lose weight to do it slowly which is the healthier way to do it. (Just my 2 cents)
Of the few people I actually have any knowledge of (in this case brother of a friend) who had bariatric surgery, he ate himself back up to his pre-surgery weight even with the limitation… which meant eating until he puked, then eating again, and basically eating around the clock.
That doesn’t say lack of education or lousy Western diet to me. That says deep psychological issue. I wouldn’t be surprised if many of the people desperate enough to undergo the pain and inconvenience suffer from a similar problem- they’re looking for a way to stop themselves, not a quick fix to avoid learning how to eat healthy.
Migraineur,
I understand your concerns here about my blanket statement. I’ve made it many times before, because I hear so many docs say “once a diabetic, always a diabetic.” They are so wrong. Type 2 is really a lifestyle condition defined by blood numbers (fasting glucose, A1C, insulin, etc) and brought on by bad diet and lack of exercise. One day you’re not a diabetic - the next day you are. It’s all about the numbers according to the medical industry. But the truth is, we all are pre-diabetic and we all live on a continuum of numbers based on our lifestyles.
The beta cells keep pumping insulin in type 2s for a long while. All of those people could be cured if they followed my instructions to the letter of the law (therein lies part of the rub). I would argue that very few type 2s so fully exhaust their beta cells that they can never recover. For the vast majority of the remaining numbers, once you re-establish insulin sensitivity and cut back on the need for more insulin all the time (diet and exercise), you allow even exhausted beta cells to recover enough to supply all the insulin the body requires.
Sorry about posting so many good posts! It’s just that much of modern medicine has become an idiocracy and we can’t stand idly by!!!
I’d like to see a comparison of people following a low carb or paleo diet vs those having surgery.
I’m appalled that surgery is about to become the instant ‘fix’ for diabetes. However, I’m not surprised. With the wealth of misinformation available for diabetics, it’s really no wonder that the cure rate for the diet and exercise group is as low as 13%. I wonder how that would compare to a ‘caveman’ type diet, even taking into consideration noncompliance (which would be comparable to the study that uses the currently approved diabetic diet)?
Mark,
I agree that most cases of Type 2 diabetes would be curable given the right information; I’m not sure the rate is as high as 99%, but I would love to see the American Diabetes Association swallow some pride and change its recommendations (not likely) so we could at least see the success rate climb.
I’m new to your blog and I’ve enjoyed checking in every couple of days. Perhaps because I am new, I’m unsure of the specific dietary recommendations that you refer to above: “…if they followed my instructions to the letter of the law…â€
Can you outline those, please?
Thanks,
MK
“if I find a single MD who is healthier than I am, I will listen to what they have to say.”
Start paying attention, Brian A
http://calorielab.com/news/categories/dr-j-will-see-you-now/
[...] Lap Bands and Type 2 Diabetes [...]