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.
According to figures with the department, for every diabetes patient in India, there are two who have the disease but are undiagnosed and four who have abnormalities that could lead to their becoming diabetic in future. “Till now we were concentrating on controlling blood sugar levels. Soon there will come a time when people will have enough therapies to completely rid themselves of diabetes,” said Dr B K Rao, chairman of the hospital.
The options
•Insulin inhalers: Hand-held devices similar to those used by asthma patients. Diabetics can use them before meals
•Byetta: An injection that arrived in the Indian market two weeks ago, it helps preserve insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. Tablets doing the same likely to be available soon
•Stem cell and gene therapies: Hold promise, but could take another 10 years
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