NBC5.com
Surgery Greatly Relieves Man's Type 2 Diabetes
Chicago Man Loses 98 PoundsNovember 15, 2007
CHICAGO -- An operation is improving the health of many people with type 2 diabetes, and it even helped one Chicago-area man.
"My organs inside were starting to deteriorate," said Larry Stecker, who diabetes was winning despite taking 35 pills a day. "They had told me it was just a matter of time and I'd be on dialysis."
Seven months ago, Stecker came to Alexian Brothers Hospital to have a stomach bypass operation.
Surgeons like James Kane have known for years that these operations not only reduce a person's weight, but also improve obesity-related diseases like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and sleep apnea.
A study in the New England journal of medicine shows the surgery reduced deaths from type 2 diabetes by more than 90 percent, and it's not just because patients lose weight.
Many of the people leave the hospital off their medications, and they haven't lost a pound yet. But it changes something almost overnight.
The exact cause is a mystery. But Kane believes that when he bypasses some of the small intestine, it helps the body from producing and regulating insulin.
After his surgery, Stecker lost 98 pounds in seven months and didn't need his medication anymore after just three weeks.
"I didn't do it to just lose weight. I did it to get my health back. I feel like I'm 20 years younger now," he said.
It takes longer, but dieting alone also will improve type two diabetes. So Kane said surgery should only be a last resort.
http://www.nbc5.com/health/14607316/detail.html
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