Diabetes is one of the major chronic diseases that seriously endanger human health. Currently, there are about 240 million people with diabetes worldwide, and the prevalence is still increasing, among which type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients account for 90% – 95%. Currently, medication is still the main treatment for diabetes, but medication does not cure diabetes, let alone prevent its complications from occurring in the first place. Strict dietary control and recurrent blood glucose fluctuations cause constant mental stress to patients and affect their quality of life. Therefore, it is difficult for patients with type 2 diabetes to control their blood sugar at normal levels.
After performing a major gastrectomy for gastric disease in some patients with type 2 diabetes, surgeons gradually noticed a phenomenon that some patients’ blood glucose levels would decrease or even return to normal. With the popularity of bariatric surgery in the West, scholars have found that many patients with concomitant metabolic syndrome (MS) gain weight loss while their metabolic disorders are corrected, as evidenced by a return to normal blood glucose and a marked improvement in insulin resistance, and these improvements can occur early in the postoperative period, even before the patient’s weight changes.
In the follow-up of diabetic patients with low body mass index (BMI) who underwent gastrointestinal bypass, it was found that more than 90% of the patients’ blood glucose levels returned to normal within a short period of time after surgery. After years of clinical observational studies as well as basic research, certain procedures that alter the morphology of the gastrointestinal tract have been shown to be significantly effective in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
In 2009, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) officially listed surgery as one of the treatment measures for type 2 diabetes with obesity in the type 2 diabetes treatment guidelines; in September 2009, the 45th Annual Meeting of the European Diabetes Research Society confirmed that diabetes has become a surgically curable gastrointestinal disease; in 2010, China also listed surgery as one of the treatment measures for type 2 diabetes with obesity in the type 2 diabetes treatment guidelines. In 2010, our country also listed surgery as one of the treatment measures for type 2 diabetes with obesity.
At present, there are more complete patient screening criteria and efficacy criteria for the surgical treatment of type 2 diabetes at home and abroad. The surgical approach has also been standardized. The risk of surgery is low and acceptable.
After years of exploration, people have finally seen the light of curing type 2 diabetes.