Bariatric surgery can help diabetics, Sudbury nurse says
'About 84 per cent go into remission with diabetes,' Sudbury Bariatric Treatment Centre spokeserson says
The co-ordinator of Sudbury's bariatric centre says gastric bypass surgery can do more than improve an individual's health — it can save the health care system big bucks.
Bonnie MacKinnon said obesity often comes with a host of associated health issues, including Type 2 diabetes. Research strongly suggests that gastric bypass surgery cuts incidents of diabetes, she added.
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“About 84 per cent go into remission with diabetes … [it’s] not so much a surgery to help people get thinner and healthier, but it's a surgery to help fight some of those co-morbid disorders that are very expensive [to] the health-care system.”
Last year, Sudbury's bariatric centre sent 300 people for bariatric surgery in Toronto. MacKinnon noted that, with more funding, more people could be approved for the procedure.
“There always is a need for an expansion where we can offer more service,” she said.
“The people want to have the surgery and, once they have the surgery, they want to have a lot of contact with the centre.”
The bariatric centre offers pre-and-post operative support for bariatric patients, however Sudbury does not have a bariatric surgeon. MacKinnon said patients still go to Toronto for the procedure.
The bariatric assessment and treatment centre has seen 60 to 80 new referrals a month of people from around the northeast who are eligible for bariatric surgery.
And the centre has grown to 17 staff members, MacKinnon said.
Just this month, Thunder Bay's health centre announced the addition of two bariatric surgeon to its staff.
A recent study from Memorial University in St. John's predicted that about 21 per cent of Canadian adults will be obese by 2019.