Hopeful Diabetes Article Released Today

Yahoo! Health released an interesting article today. Now, of course, I am a strong advocate of "prevention" through leading a healthy lifestyle (consisting of proper diet, exercise and wellness practices), however I do believe that this article deserves a mention.

Australian researchers have found that stomach surgeries that reduce the size of a patient's stomach (in this case, stomach banding), result in the disappearance of diabetes in many patients over the next 2 years. Although not involved in the study, American doctors have noted that gastric bypass surgery has an even greater success rate.

Diabetes experts who were quoted in this article suggested that these stomach surgeries should be considered for the very obese. They indicate that further research is necessary to see how long the effects last and who would benefit from surgery the most in the future.

I am certainly in agreement that we should consider surgery with the very obese because of the potential of very quickly increasing their quality of life. This would enable them to adopt a healthier lifestyle and would give them a fighting chance at living life more fully.

As for gastric bypass surgery and other stomach surgeries being used to treat diabetes with patients who are not obese, the jury is still out on that one. Experts do not recommend this route at this point, however the American Diabetes Association is interested in the findings of this research and revises its recommendations each year. With further research on the subject, we may see some changes to its advice in the near future. We shall see.

To find out more about the study methodology, including how the patients were selected, what type of care they received, their level of physical fitness, how much weight the study versus control group lost, as well as the success rate of stomach surgery versus traditional medical care in eliminating diabetes, I encourage you to read the article in its entirety. Let me know your thoughts as well.

Until tomorrow, be healthy, fit and live life to the fullest. You know you deserve it!

Have a great evening.

Sandy Huard, President, Women's Health Supply International