Efficacy of Surgery for Diabetes: Gastric Banding vs. Gastric Bypass

Gastric bypass surgery has received significant attention as an up-and-coming treatment for type 2 diabetes. At the same time, we are also seeing the emergence of encouraging results from laparoscopic gastric banding surgery for patients with diabetes. Dr. John Dixon, associate professor of medicine and head of obesity research at Monash University Medical School in Melbourne, Australia, compares the efficacy of gastric banding surgery with gastric bypass as a treatment for diabetes. Further, some medical experts have been very critical of any form of surgery as a means to reverse lifestyle tendencies that often contribute to the onset of diabetes, including one's propensity to eat too much or an aversion to exercise. Dr. Dixon responds to this notion in this conversation with Dr. Mark Nolan Hill.