A medical study in America that shows stomach stapling can send type 2 diabetes into remission is being supported by doctors in New Zealand.
The New England Journal of Medicine reports the research could have a major effect on the future of diabetes treatment.
The study by the Cleveland Clinic of 150 diabetics who underwent stomach stapling for obesity found their blood sugar levels normalised for a year following surgery.
Richard Babor, a bariatric surgeon at Counties Manukau District Health Board, says 76% of the its patients who have undergone the procedure in the past four years have been able to come off diabetes medication.
Dr Babor says stomach stapling could be a cost-effective way of treating type 2 diabetes when compared to the price of long-term therapies.
The medical director of the Society for the Study of Diabetes, Dr Paul Drury, says it is high time New Zealand's medical guidelines were revised to consider the benefits of the procedure on treating diabetes.
