International Diabetes Federation Supports Surgery to Treat Diabetes

international diabetes foundationYesterday at the 2nd World Congress on Interventional Therapies for Type 2 Diabetes in New York, leading experts presented a statement by The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) supporting weight loss surgery to treat diabetes.  ScienceDaily reported that the statement was written by 20 experts in diabetes and bariatric surgery, who made recommendations on the use of weight loss surgery as a cost-efficient option for severely obese people with type 2 diabetes.  This statement is the first of its kind.  Neither the IDF Federation nor any major international organization has made recommendations on this rapidly developing and promising area of treatment.

Viewed as a looming epidemic, Type 2 diabetes is one of the fastest growing diseases today.  Currently, nearly 300 million people worldwide have Type 2 diabetes and 450 million are projected to be affected by 2030. “Bariatric intervention is a health and cost-effective therapy for type 2 diabetes and obesity with an acceptable safety profile. Bariatric surgery for severely obese people with type 2 diabetes should be considered much earlier in management rather than held back as a last resort. It should be incorporated into type 2 diabetes treatment protocols,” said co-chairperson Professor Sir George Alberti, a Senior Research Investigator at Imperial College, London.

Professor John Dixon, who is the Head of Obesity Research Unit at Monash University, Melbourne, explains that bariatric surgery can lead to remission of diabetes in 4 out of 5 severely obese patients: “It is very important for health authorities and policy makers to understand that almost all severely obese patients cannot achieve and maintain significant weight loss. They should be treated where appropriate with bariatric surgery, which can lead to remission of diabetes in up to 80% of patients.”

The statement from the International Diabetes Federation is here.

You can read ScienceDaily’s article here.

, ,

Comments are closed.