Thursday, May 8, 2008

The Miracle Diabetes Cure You Don't Know About

What would you say if I told you there's a cure for type II diabetes that's effective in 83% of people, extremely rapid, and requires no lifestyle changes? Would you think I was crazy? Well maybe I am, but the cure exists nevertheless.

All it requires is a little gastric bypass surgery. It's an anti-obesity surgery where the digestive tract is re-routed, bypassing 95% of the stomach as well as the duodenum and jejunum, which are parts of the upper small intestine.

The effect was first reported in 1995 by Dr. Walter Pories. Initially, researchers thought the cure was simply from caloric restriction due to a smaller stomach volume, but since then the story has become much more interesting. The key finding was published in 2004 by Dr. Francesco Rubino, who showed that bypassing the duodenum and jejunum but not the stomach of type II diabetic rats was enough to cure their diabetes. The effect wasn't due to caloric restriction, since both groups ate the same amount of food.

What this suggests is that there's some kind of feedback coming from the upper small intestine that affects glucose control and insulin sensitivity. What could be causing it? It just so happens there are some pretty good candidates: hormones called GLP-1 and ghrelin.

I'm going to dive into this and see if I can figure out what's going on.

Sorry for the cheesy post title, I'm practicing for my best-seller. Maybe I should add the word "secret"? How about this: "101 Secret Diabetes Cures THEY Don't Want You to Know About".

7 comments:

.^ said...

Not sure if this is any help, but there's an interesting (albeit slightly rambling) speech here by a vet who calls himself Dogtor J (groan). Anyway, he's big on the duodenum and jejunum as being the areas most affected by gluten, etc.

See what you think.

Stephan Guyenet said...

Thanks Chainey, I'll check that out.

Unknown said...

Good luck on your future Oprah Book of the Month, "101 Secret Diabetes Cures THEY Don't Want You to Know About". But who is "THEY"? An evil cabal of anti-intestinal mutilation extremists? Perhaps I'm part of it.
Even if I had type II diabetes I don't think I'd do it. As indicated by some of the surgery's reported side effects it seems to also bypass important digestive functions.

Stephan Guyenet said...

Yeah the surgery is horrible. We do have a stomach and upper small intestine for a reason.

Debs said...

Do you think the upper small intestine's feedback would be some sort of maladapted attempt to protect the liver? Doesn't the blood, replete with nutrients and fats, go to the liver to get rid of toxins after the small intestine?

Stephan Guyenet said...

I think the small intestine's feedback is telling the rest of the body that nutrients are coming. That promotes insulin release and satiety.

Allmeister said...

I am from Germany and I have another cure here in my office. It is from an Indian doctor and natural healer who produces this treatment himself. It is fully on natural basis and has no chemical contents. No side effects. Until now it has cured permanently all patients after 90-180 days of taking it. If anyone is interested to know, please contact me. All details upon request.
This is not a story, but true!