DIAMOND – the interventional solution for the moderate BMI population
Dr. Winfried Keuthage gave an interesting talk at the Diabetes fair in Münster, Germany this week.
According to the data presented, diabetes affected 6.4% of the world population in 2010, but the bad news are that in 2030 it will grow to affect 7.7%, and in North America 12.1%. Even worse: although doctors are prescribing multiple drugs for the majority of patients (called “polypharmacy”), this is ineffective in controlling blood sugar in about two thirds of patients.
On the other hand, surgical intervention is constantly gaining recognition as a treatment for diabetes, with 78% of patients showing resolution of their diabetes post surgery, and sustaining this status for at least two years. However, when looking deeper into types of surgery, it seems that reversible “lap-band” procedures are significantly less effective than the more serious gastric bypass surgeries which are irreversible and come with a significant risk to the patient. These procedures are therefore only prescribed to the seriously obese patients (BMI>35) and not to the majority of diabetics, who have more moderate BMI.
DIAMOND presents a significant step forward: on one hand it is very effective in both weight reduction as well as controlling blood sugar levels (maintaining both the weight and blood sugar effects for for long follow-up periods), while on the other hand it is implanted in a minimally invasive, fully reversible implantation procedure – exactly the solution required for the moderate BMI population!