Thousands of patients with type-2 diabetes missing out on surgery

A team of experts say that thousands of type-2 diabetes patients in the UK are not being offered surgery that could significantly reduce blood sugars and in some cases lead to remission.

Although UK guidelines do already recommend surgery for some patients, most doctors do not currently offer it and experts are arguing that the guidance needs to be made more prominent.

Although fewer than 6,000 of these bariatric operations were carried out last year, the report states that around 100,000 obese diabetic patients could benefit from the procedure, which involves re-routing the gut or removing part of the stomach.

There are around three million patients with type-2 diabetes in the UK, a condition which can have serious consequences, such as heart disease, blindness and kidney failure.

Although the treatment is traditionally used for weight-loss, the experts looked at growing evidence that suggests that it could also alter the gut lining and gut hormones, to bring blood sugars under control. This would lessen the need for daily insulin injections or drugs, and in over a third of cases, leads to a period of remission.

The procedures cost around £6,000 and within 24 months would pay for themselves, by cutting drug costs and reducing any expense associated with the treatment of diabetes-related complications.

Professor Francesco Rubino, leading surgeon and co-author of the report, said “Surgery represents a radical departure from conventional approaches to diabetes.

“The new guidelines effectively introduce, both conceptually and practically, one of the biggest changes for diabetes care in modern times.”

Simon O’Neill of Diabetes UK, said “Many people who stand to benefit from this potentially life-saving treatment are missing out due to needless barriers to obesity surgery services.

“Even people who meet the criteria for the surgery are made to wait too long.”

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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