2023-08-09 12:41:35
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Scientists have come up with an unconventional way, instead of daily insulin injections, to maintain normal glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes.
The researchers found that stimulating the lining of the small intestine with mild electrical impulses in a one-off treatment kept blood sugar levels under control just as effectively.
In a recent clinical trial, 86 percent of patients with type 2 diabetes who underwent the procedure were able to maintain their glucose levels through diet and pills alone and stopped needing insulin altogether.
Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is linked to poor diet, lifestyle and obesity, and is characterized by high blood sugar levels.
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The disease develops when the body does not produce enough insulin (a hormone secreted by the pancreas to help muscle cells absorb sugar from the blood to use as energy), or when the body’s cells become resistant to this hormone.
Over time, high or uncontrolled blood sugar damages vital organs and narrows blood vessels, resulting in decreased circulation.
Medications such as metformin, along with lifestyle changes, can help insulin work better. But nearly a quarter of patients require daily injections of synthetic insulin.
Getting rid of insulin
And the new procedure, ReCET (Returning Cells via Electroconvulsive Therapy), could allow type 2 patients to get off their insulin, according to the Daily Mail.
The electrical impulses are delivered to the lining of the duodenum (the first part of the small intestine) through an endoscope.
The duodenum is located just below the stomach, where most nutrients are absorbed from food, and it is believed that high levels of sugar in the blood lead to changes in the cells lining this part of the intestine, making the body resistant to its own insulin.
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Electrical impulses poke tiny holes in these cells, causing them to die so that the lining of the intestine replaces them with new, healthy cells that respond properly to insulin in the body, improving blood sugar control.
After undergoing this procedure, 14 patients in the trial were placed on a liquid diet for a week to heal the gut.
Then they started taking the diabetes drug semaglutide (Ozimbic), which helps the pancreas release the right amount of insulin.
Semaglutide alone can sometimes allow patients with type 2 to stop taking insulin — but only in about 20 percent of cases.
And when the participants took the medication after the operation, 86 percent were able to control their blood sugar well without the need for insulin. No side effects have been reported from this procedure.
Carry out larger studies
The researchers from the University of Amsterdam Medical Center, who presented their findings at the Gastroenterology Week conference in Chicago earlier this year, are now carrying out larger studies, comparing the treatment with a placebo.
And this isn’t the first time gut procedures have helped treat type 2 diabetes.
Gastric bypass can treat the disease even before patients lose weight, by causing changes in gut hormones that encourage stable blood sugar levels.
Other studies have looked at ablation using heat to alter the lining of the small intestine, but this can damage the lining of the intestine.
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