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BARIATRIC SURGERY

A few days after Mike Pezzano had gastric-bypass surgery, his diabetes disappeared. He's not alone. For Type 2 diabetics, surgery confers benefits independent of weight loss, and that's especially true of gastric bypass.

With tiny stomachs, patients eat little, but feel full. Type 2 diabetics' blood sugar levels also improve.

When bariatric surgery isn't an option, experts say, there are more moderate dietary techniques that can help put diabetics on track for their ideal diet.

Michael Pezzano one year after his bariatric surgery. (Michael S. Wirtz / Staff Photographer)
Michael Pezzano one year after his bariatric surgery. (Michael S. Wirtz / Staff Photographer)
TACKLING THE CONFUSION

"Doctors and insurers should be doing more to lower the barriers to effective health care, instead of raising them," says Dr. Arthur Chernoff, chairman of the Division of Endocrinology at Albert Einstein Medical Center.

 
Fast Food: What you can eat
TACKLING THE COST
After she lost her job last year, Vanessa Sheppard stopped buying the test strips she needed to check her blood glucose level. Saving money by skipping tests is an all-too-common and dangerous scenario, experts say.
 
Diabetes on 54 cents a day
RESEARCH

Five local projects offer promise in diabetes research: An artificial pancreas could stabilize blood sugar levels, a researcher glimpses signs of prediabetes in the fingers of patients, doctors investigate the roles of hunger hormones and fatty acids in the disease, and one researcher is working to regrow cells destroyed by Type I diabetes,

philly vs. diabetes
From carb-counting to workouts, from pregnant diabetics to B.Y.O insulin outings for kids, Philadelphia has a wealth of community options for diabetics.
It's a mark of distinction for a diabetes-education class to be officially "recognized" by the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Below are 51 programs in the eight-county Philadelphia region that pass muster.
Sign-ups are getting under way for next summer's diabetes camps for kids at four major regional camps.