Bariatric surgery for diabetes tops innovation rankings

Cleveland Clinic announced its list of Top 10 Medical Innovations that will have a major impact on improving patient care within the next year. The list of breakthrough devices and therapies was selected by a panel of Cleveland Clinic physicians and scientists and announced today during Cleveland Clinic’s 2012 Medical Innovation Summit.

And, number one --

Via Cleveland Clinic -

1. Bariatric Surgery for Control of Diabetes 
Exercise and diet alone are not effective for treating severe obesity or Type 2 diabetes. Once a person reaches 100 pounds or more above his or her ideal weight, losing the weight and keeping it off for many years almost never happens.

While the medications we have for diabetes are good, about half of the people who take them are not able to control their disease. This can often lead to heart attack, blindness, stroke, and kidney failure.

Surgery for obesity, often called bariatric surgery, shrinks the stomach into a small pouch and rearranges the digestive tract so that food enters the small intestine at a later point than usual.

Over the years, many doctors performing weight-loss operations found that the surgical procedure would rid patients of Type 2 diabetes, oftentimes before the patient left the hospital.

Many diabetes experts now believe that weight-loss surgery should be offered much earlier as a reasonable treatment option for patients with poorly controlled diabetes —and not as a last resort.