Yes, you read that title correctly; a company in Massachusetts has developed an impermeable barrier - essentially a long plastic sheath - which is inserted via endoscopy into the duodenum and proximal small bowel. After food is digested in the stomach, it passes through this "EndoBarrier" and doesn't come into contact with the mucosa of the bowel wall.
Thus the nutrients (and the calories) are not absorbed:
The data show that EndoBarrier patients experienced a mean reduction of 2.9% (p=0.04) of HbA1c glucose levels from baseline (8.9%) versus a mean 0.76% (p=0.04) reduction from baseline (9.0%) for the sham arm for an average of 31 weeks (ranged from 16 to 44 weeks). These results support the initial findings announced at the American Diabetes Association annual meeting in June that the EndoBarrier rapidly improves glycemic control in type 2 diabetics at one week, independent of weight loss.
My own prediction - as soon as this is approved, all the obese diabetics will want to have this so they can lose weight while continuing to eat, and as happened with the gastric balloons, most will probably alter their eating patterns to negate the effect of the device. But I'm probably being cynical and curmudgeonly.
Yes, you read that title correctly; a company in Massachusetts has developed an impermeable barrier - essentially a long plastic sheath - which is inserted via endoscopy into the duodenum and proximal small bowel. After food is digested in the stomach, it passes through this "EndoBarrier" and doesn't come into contact with the mucosa of the bowel wall. Thus the nutrients (and the calories) are not absorbed:
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