Diabetics can get their blood sugar level in check with the help of obesity surgery

July 8th, 2010 - 7:38 pm ICT by Aishwarya Bhatt  

New York, July 8 (THAINDIAN NEWS) People suffering from diabetes have placed their hopes on obesity surgery to get their blood sugar levels down.

Doctors say they have discovered that after the obesity surgery, diabetes disappears from the patients. After the surgery, most of the patients get their sugar levels back to normal and the daily dose of insulin is no longer needed.

However doctors are yet to identify if the operation could be carried out on people who have diabetes, but are not obese. Some doctors are trying the surgery on non-obese diabetics, to see if the same effect could be achieved.

But federal rules in the United States do not allow the surgery on just about anyone. Strict rules means that the surgery can only be carried out on people, who have tried shedding weight through exercise and medication but failed. The rules also say that the person must have a body mass index of more than 40. However for those with body mass index of 35 and with serious weight related problems, the operation could still be allowed.

As the current rules stands now, the surgery on non-obese diabetic patients is illegal. This has got some doctors challenging the BMI barrier.

Last year, more than 220,000 Americans had obesity surgery. The surgery costs between $14,000 to $26,000.

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