NHS should make stomach bypasses more widely available, urge activists

Activists say the NHS should give more obese people a gastric bypbad if they wish.

Research has shown that operations – which close a portion of the stomach to reduce the amount of food consumed – can reverse type 2 diabetes in three quarters of patients.

This call goes against the expert opinion that NHS money would be better spent trying to prevent obesity.

But the appeal of the procedure, which would cost around £ 10,000 per hour, could be wide: a quarter of British adults are obese and over three million are suffering from diabetes.

A quarter of British adults are obese and more than three million people have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, which, untreated, can lead to leg amputation, blindness, heart disease and stroke. Overweight is a major risk factor for the disease (picture in stock)

The study, carried out by scientists from the University Hospital of Aarhus in Denmark, examined 1,111 type 2 diabetics who underwent gastric bypbad between 2006 and 2015.

They compared them to 1,074 non-operated patients, who are only offered to morbidly obese people.

About 73% of the patients who underwent surgery were free of diabetes – their blood sugar level was normal and they did not need medication – for at least five years after their intervention.

"The lack of bariatric surgery in the UK means that very few people can access this treatment and have the opportunity to put their type 2 diabetes in remission," said Dr. Emily Burns of Diabetes UK, Times.

"Even if everyone who qualifies for bariatric surgery will not want it, we think the option should be there for those who want it."

Type 2 diabetes is on the rise in the UK, as people continue to live less active lives and eat junk food – an estimated 3.3 million people have been diagnosed with it.

Obesity is one of the main causes of the condition that, untreated, can lead to leg amputation, blindness, heart disease and stroke.

Gastric bypbad surgery has been a subject of controversy in the past. Baroness Barbara Young, former CEO of Diabetes UK, said the NHS must spend its money on prevention.

She said in 2014: "Give me the amount of 5,000 euros you would spend for an operation and insert it into a weight reduction program earlier and we could win," reported The Telegraph.

Baroness Young added: "I do not think that bariatric surgery should be an option for 800,000 people.

"The most important thing is that we really make sure that people who are starting to develop excess weight and go on to obesity benefit from effective interventions long before they meet the criteria that would warrant bariatric surgery." .

According to the NHS, a gastric bypbad surgery would currently cost between £ 8,000 and £ 15,000 if done privately.

In the Danish University study, the results showed that 65% of patients in remission of diabetes within six months following the operation.

This figure rose to 74% after six months and remained virtually the same over the next five years.

The patients were subjected to a procedure called gastric bypbad of Roux-en-Y, which reduced the usable portion of the stomach to a small pocket the size of an egg.

In total, 7.5% of patients have been readmitted to the hospital because of complications, which scientists say should put patients on guard.

People under 60 were more likely to be in remission after the operation, as were people whose diabetes was not severe enough to be able to receive regular insulin injections.

The research was published in the journal Diabetologia.