Research by Oxford
University has found that having diabetes in middle age will shorten your life
by an average of six years. This
study is the first of its kind to put an actual figure alongside the reduction
in life expectancy expected from the condition which is linked to being
overweight in middle age. Diabetes is known to double a person’s risk of heart
attacks and strokes, but these new findings also revealed that people with type
2 diabetes are also at a higher risk of dying from cancer, infection and mental
disorders.
One of the risk factors involved in the development of type 2 diabetes is
weight and many recent studies have
shown that, in extreme cases when people are clinically obese weight-loss
surgery can provide hope. In this article we look at how a Kent man was given a
new lease of life after undergoing lifesaving surgery to help ease his type 2
diabetes.
Phillip
Walton from Chislehurst, in Kent, underwent a gastric bypass at BMI
Healthcare’s Chelsfield Park Hospital in 2009. Since the operation he has gone
on to lose over 6 stone and now no longer has to inject insulin to control his
diabetes. Phillip, a 53-year-old entrepreneur, had his operation in August 2009
in an effort to keep his type 2 diabetes under control. His doctors had warned
him that he was putting his body under extreme pressure and that his excessive
weight and resulting type 2 diabetes was putting his life at risk from
irreversible liver and kidney damage. Before his surgery Phillip was using
up to 400 units of insulin a day with little effect on his diabetes, by
comparison a person weighing 11 stone would use just 35-45 units per day.
“Taking this large quantity of insulin had a major impact on my day-to-day
activities. I was constantly lethargic, I had mood swings from unstable blood
sugar levels and my vision was being affected,” Phillip commented.
Phillip was at risk of suffering irreversible damage to his body
from taking such large doses of insulin and was referred, by his GP, to
Consultant General Surgeon Mr El Hasani at Chelsfield Park Hospital for gastric
bypass surgery. After an initial consultation with Mr El Hasani, Phillip
decided that surgery was the best option for him and he was booked in for the
procedure that would hopefully help add years to his life. Phillip’s surgery
was successful and in just two months Phillip lost 4 stone and the effect
diabetes had on his life was massively reduced. “The surgery changed my life
for the better. I no longer needed to take insulin and the associated problems
I had because of the high levels on insulin in my body were put to an end. The
procedure was a complete success and had led to a whole host of other benefits.
I didn’t like having my picture taken before, I was very sensitive about it as
I was unhappy with the person who was staring me back in the face, now however
I’m happy to pose for any shots and am proud of the way I look.”
Private hospital news : 28 January 2012
