Ok, I watch the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams every evening before going to work. In a recent health report, he stated, "24 million Americans have diabetes. That is up 3 million in just two years..."
WOW! That is a staggering number!
The rest of the report stated that an unexpected side effect to gastric bypass surgery has been found to eliminate type II diabetes in about 76% of patients who have had the procedure. The thing that scared me the most, were the two doctors who they interviewed who are performing a study where they perform gastric bypass on a group of patients and see if their type II diabetes is "cured". One spoke up and said, "We don't know how general anesthesia works, but we use it."
WHAT???? I wouldn't let that guy operate on me!
That can't be a true statement. I'm going to ask one of the doctors I work with. Because I disagree. In simple terms, anesthesia induces a sleep-like state with the use of drugs to make the patient as comfortable as possible in order to perform medical procedures.
But what wasn't on the report was how dangerous gastric bypass surgery is. Before moving to Arizona, the hospital I worked at performed a lot of gastric bypass surgeries. All patients who'd undergone gastric bypass was an automatic ICU admit. Some patients did relatively well, but many more had complications such as renal failure and a condition called Rhabdomyolysis. I took care of several who died. Young men and women in their thirties and forties. Needless deaths, leaving behind spouses and young children.
The bottom line is, do we really know how this procedure is going to affect people 10, 15, 20 years down the road? What are the chances of malnutrition? What abnormalities in food absorption are these patients at risk for? I oftened wondered.
I have to agree with a doctor speaking out against this study in the report and stated that diet, life style changes, and medicine are the safest way to treat diabetes.
Really, folks. You're taking your life into your hands with a risky procedure. Losing weight is a daily struggle, but it can be done. I admire those folks who have been on THE BIGGEST LOSER. They really take control and learn how to eat right and change their lives. Which you need to do if you have gastric bypass surgery. There are several types of gastric bypass surgeries, but a lot of them require that you have to completely change your eating habits according to the type of surgery you have.
So, why not be safe?
The patient who is a participatient in the trial said, "It would be so great to go into a pizza shop and order 2 slices of pizza..."
HUH? Okay. No comment.
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