Device placed in intestine leads to drastic weight loss and reverses onset of diabetes; licence given for use on European patients

In research that could potentially revolutionize healthcare for the exploding diabetes population around the world, scientists reported to have developed a 15-minute, non-surgical treatment for the disease that leads to drastic weight loss and even reverses the onset of diabetes.

The device called EndoBarrier, considered a cheap and safe alternative to surgery, is a plastic sleeve that is inserted through endoscopy into the intestine of a patient to prevent food being absorbed into the body, the Daily Express reported.

Keith Gersin, head of obesity surgery at Carolinas Medical Centre in Charlotte, N.C., which has been conducting trials of the EndoBarrier sleeve for 18 months, said “the device is so quick to fit that you can get lots more patients treated. The patients who used it have continued to lose weight. It gave them the incentive to diet and eat sensibly,” said Gersin.

Extensive tests of the device have been carried out in the U.S. and Europe. In a 12-week trial in the Netherlands, patients fitted with the EndoBarrier lost an average of 16kg compared with a control group of patients who dieted and lost just 5kg. During trials, the sleeve was able to reverse Type 2 diabetes within weeks by reducing patients’ blood sugar levels so they no longer needed to take drugs.

According to its developers, the treatment, which costs £2,000, is about half the cost of the cheapest obesity operation. The EndoBarrier digestive tract liner won CE Mark approval in December, 2009, clearing the way for sales to begin in the European Union this year.

Earlier this month, U.S. medical device major Medtronic Inc., bought a $15 million minority stake in GI Dynamics, the developer of EndoBarrier, in a move to further expand its diabetes business.