Gastric bypass surgery, usually meant for helping the obese lose weight, can also cure Type II diabetes, say doctors at Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. They say results on 40-odd patients have been outstanding.

Type II diabetes, which is the most common form of the disease, occurs because the body either does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin, vital for processing sugar into energy for body cells. This leads to a build-up of sugar in the blood, with long-term risks of eye, kidney, nerve or heart diseases.

Explaining the surgery, Dr Surendra Kumar, chairman of the hospital’s Department of Endocrinology & Metabolism, said: “There are certain intestinal hormones responsible for maintaining the health and mass or the beta cells of the pancreas, which produce insulin. These hormones are released from cells in the lower part of the intestine. The surgery bypasses the upper part of the intestine, and as a result food reaches the lower part faster, causing the release of these hormones in greater amount. The higher availability of these hormones reduces the exhaustion of beta cells.”

He said the operation could prove especially helpful to patients in the early stages of Type II diabetes. It costs Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh.

“We check the insulin and blood glucose levels, which gives us a fair idea if the surgery will be helpful or not, as those caught at the initial stage of Type II diabetes can be helped,” said Dr Kumar.

... contd.