Nancy Gay, Your Health And Fitness
The number of Type 2 diabetics in Florida doubled between 1994 and 2004. Most of these patients are overweight and some are now turning to bariatric surgery for relief.
News 13's Medical reporter Nancy Gay explains.
Eli Orta used to weigh in at nearly 300 pounds.
"My blood pressure was so incredibly high,” Orta said. “My diabetes was taking a toll on me."
He had to take ten different medications a day just to stay healthy.
"I had to do something so drastic that it would force me to live my life differently," Orta said
That "thing" turned out to be bariatric surgery.
He expected to lose weight after having bariatric surgery, but he was surprised to learn the procedure eliminated his diabetes.
"The second day after the surgery my blood sugar was completely normal and I was free of any pills and anything that would help me control my sugar," Orta said.
"Bariatric surgeries have two actions that make Type 2 diabetes improve or disappear,” said Dr. Muhammed Jawad. “One is the fact that it makes you lose weight and by making you lose weight the diabetes goes away. Number two it has some hormonal effects and also malabsorption effect that increase the insulin and reduce the sugar and make type two diabetes improve tremendously."
Dr. Jawad with the Ocala Medical Center said 30 percent of his morbidly obese patients suffer from Type 2 diabetes. Since the surgery, Orta changed his eating habits drastically and lost about 180 pounds.
"I feel great,” Orta said. “The future is bright for me."
Dr. Jawad said in order to have gastric bypass surgery patients need to have a BMI of 40 or 35 when paired with severe co-morbidities.
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