Where Does Bariatric Surgery Fit in Among People with Diabetes?
“Traditional treatments for diabetes do not work,” says Neil E. Hutcher, MD, FACS, a bariatric surgeon at Commonwealth Surgeons, Ltd., in Richmond, Va. and the past president of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). “People even with good medical control still go on dialysis, lose limbs, and have significant heart attacks, drug reactions and other complications; so the notion that medical therapy is without risk is absolutely incorrect.” People with diabetes can lose limbs from nerve damage and/or foot problems that can ultimately lead to ulcers and infections. Hutcher recently discussed the role that bariatric surgery plays in curing diabetes on 60 Minutes. “The risk of surgery in appropriate centers is certainly no greater and probably less than the risk of medical therapy for diabetes,” he says.
