The Other Diabetes: An Interventional Market Emerges

The American Society for Bariatric Surgery recently changed its name to the American Society for Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, in recognition of the link between obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Published data has long shown that in many cases, when morbidly obese patients with Type 2 diabetes lose weight--through gastric bypass surgery or other means--their glucose levels return to normal. That's old news. But something new is happening: bariatric surgeons and companies with implantable devices originally intended for weight loss are publishing data that shows a reversal in Type 2 diabetes, sometimes independently of a reduction in weight, by some other mechanisms as yet unproven. In September, the "First World Congress On Interventional Therapies for Type 2 Diabetes" convened the clinical community and industry to discuss new treatment strategies.