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New Take On How Gastric Bypass Cures Diabetes

Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins

PET CT images of rats

Caption: This is a PET/CT scan of a rat before (left) and after (right) gastric bypass surgery. This kind of a PET scan shows that after surgery the intestine (the looping structures) are using more glucose, which appear yellow and orange. By comparison the before surgery snapshot (left) reveals that there is very little glucose uptake in the intestines, which are barely visible.
Credit: Courtesy of the Stylopoulos Laboratory

A dramatic, lasting, weight loss treatment for morbidly obese patients is gastric bypass surgery. Although there are many variations of this surgery, each with its signature metabolic pros and cons, the Roux-en-Y bypass is the most popular. The operation involves reducing the stomach size by 90% (which restricts food intake) and reconnecting the remaining stomach pouch to a latter section of the small intestine called the jejunum. Food thus “bypasses” digestion in the stomach and the upper portion of the small intestine. The result of this gastrointestinal re-engineering is that less food is eaten and fewer calories are absorbed in the gut.


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