Can Surgery Reverse Type 2 Diabetes in Obese Patients?

2012 CMHC speaker Francesco Rubino has been in the news lately. His recent New England Journal of Medicine study, reported on by CBS News and other news outlets, suggests that bariatric surgery can reverse type 2 diabetes in morbidly obese patients. Dr. Rubino’s provocative keynote address for Thursday afternoon, October 11, 2012 at the CMHC is titled Are We Ready for Bariatric Surgery as the Treatment of Choice for T2DM? Dr. Rubino, director of The Diabetes Surgery Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, will discuss his own clinical data and other high-profile studies on the topic. As always at the CMHC, this keynote address will focus on the practical, clinical implications of the information presented. Clinical issues that Dr. Rubino will cover in his talk include the following: • The various available bariatric surgical approaches and what is known about the metabolic effects of each. • How to identify obese patients with type 2 diabetes who would be good candidates for bariatric surgery. • How clinicians can find surgeons with solid experience in bariatric surgical techniques. • A cost-benefit analysis of surgical intervention in obese patients with type 2 diabetes. “I’m really anticipating Francesco’s presentation,” said CMHC co-chair Robert Eckel, MD. “The bariatric approach for diabetes management is an option these days for us, but is this research or clinical care? How should patients be selected? Can we afford it? So many questions and Dr. Rubino is in a great position to address them.” This entry was posted in Diabetes, Obesity by Jeff Minerd. Bookmark the permalink.