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NEW RESEARCH ON type 2 diabetes has found that surgery is a more effective and cheaper option than insulin for two-thirds of patients.
The Irish Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (IrSPEN) worked with the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society to analyse over 2,000 post-surgery outcomes of patients with obesity and diabetes requiring insulin.
According to Professor Helen Heneghan from St Vincent’s University Hospital, 67% of patients who underwent metabolic surgery no longer needed to use insulin one year after their surgery.
Alongside that, 37% of patients achieved remission of their diabetes entirely.
“This research now confirms metabolic surgery is also the most effective medical treatment for the majority of patients with more severe type 2 diabetes who use insulin,” said Professor Heneghan.
On average patients also lost around a quarter of their body weight and the improvements persisted for at least four years
The second arm of the study was surrounding the cost of diabetes. According to IrSPEN member Professor Carel le Roux, while surgery is more expensive in the short term it is less than the ongoing cost of medications.
“Although an operation costs €8,000, researchers found that this figure was less than the ongoing cost of medications,” said Professor le Roux.
With costs of treatment side-effects and any complications of diabetes were also considered, the average patient treated with surgery was expected to save the health system €4,000 over five years, while also living with better health outcomes.
One diabetes patient, Laurence Kelly, who required insulin injections for years, no longer needs them because of surgery.
“These findings show the benefits of the HSE making metabolic surgery more widely available to more public patients in Ireland. The surgery not only gave me significant improvement in my health, but is also cost-effective for the HSE within a short payback time,” said Kelly.
Both the Department of Health and the HSE have been contacted for comment, but none has been received as of publication.
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He has been found alive
@Peter Conroy: This could all have been avoided if he wasn’t wearing Healy Ray-Bans, that have terrible blinkered vision and white wash everything.
@KingCrisp: that is the dumbest most irrelevant comment I’ve ever read.
Hope they’re found safe!!
Likely in a drysuit or wetsuit and sea not too cold yet. Hopefully a good outcome.
@Chemical Brothers: .alarm raised at 5 ,already dark by then and the weather is not the greatest .It’s a worrying time .
@Siobhán Ni Mhurchú: great news he’s been found safe and well.
@Chemical Brothers: ehhhh sea is sub 10 degrees this time of year…
@Sinead Merrigan: You are wrong MET Buoy M3 currently 12.5 degrees C.
@Sinead Merrigan: if the seawater was -10C he would have had a nice stroll home on the ice.
@Paul O’b: sub 10 means UNDER 10 Paul, NOT -10
@Chemical Brothers: not much different in terms of hypothermia, maybe a minute or two extra to suffer.
@Chemical Brothers: yep, not too bad for this time of year and about the same it was in June and July in most parts
Amazing result, he kitesurfed all the way from Kerry to Claire, this is a first.
@Adolf Galland: would have been good to have told someone of his plan of the trip was intentional
Save a lot of hassle
@Quentin Moriarty: This wasn’t a planned trip across the Shannon estuary. He got caught in the currant and him being an experienced kite surfer he went with the current instead of fighting it. He’s a very lucky man to be alive this morning.
@Mike Flavin: would their be many currants in the sea?
@Seriously stunned: *there. Oh the irony
@Adolf Galland: why would they bother considering the stress they put on reduce teams. Disgraceful behaviour just so can have something to talk about over tinnies with the buddies
@Mike Flavin: IF the trip was intentional which it couldn’t have been as only a donkey would try to travel to Clare with light fading
@Adolf Galland: yes, Claire, was in the boat
@Mike Flavin: he washed up on bun na carraige
Lucky lucky lucky
Superb news
Thank the Lord and may the wind be always at your back !
So glad he is safe
Travelled across the mouth of the Shannon
Kerry to Clare
@Quentin Moriarty: around loop head and up the coast. Amazing to hear he made it ashore.
Hell of a ride at 25 miles.
He went out around Loop Head so ?
Back to miles now are we?
Stick to skateboarding in Future is my advice…
@P Block Loftus road: If he’d have been skateboarding he’d have definitely drowned.
That’s an adventure for sure, good man for staying calm.
Kitesurfer not windsurfer….
This should be turned into Supersurfer Event. Ballybunion to Kilkeel but in good weather with a southerly wind
Remarkable that he could not get inshore before Kilkee
@WoodlandBard: kilkee to Loop head is nothing but steep cliffs for the majority of it
As usual people with no brains go out to stupid weather and then put the RNLI at risk having to save them
@Laurence O Neill: it wasn’t out in stupid weather and it was he’s brain that kept him alive. He’s an experienced man that knew how to handle the situation that he got into.
@Laurence O Neill:
Just hope you or yours never need help from a judgemental rescue team!
All ways let someone know when YOU are IN water
have your say