(Press-News.org) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Removing the entire pancreas in patients with cancer or precancerous cysts in part of the organ does not result in unmanageable diabetes — as many physicians previously believed, research at Mayo Clinic in Florida has found. The study, published online Sunday in the journal HPB Surgery, evaluates how well patients who had their entire pancreas removed could control their resulting diabetes. The pancreas produces insulin to remove sugar from the blood, so when the organ is gone, insulin must be replaced, usually through an external pump or with injections.
The researchers examined control of insulin over several years in 14 patients whose entire pancreas was removed. They compared their findings with 100 people with type 1 diabetes, and must use insulin replacement. They found both groups had little difficulty controlling their blood sugar, and no complications resulted.
The findings should reassure physicians and surgeons that removing the entire pancreas is reasonably safe and effective, says senior investigator Michael B. Wallace, M.D., chair of the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology at Mayo Clinic in Florida.
"What has confounded surgery for pancreatic cancers and precancerous cysts for a long time is the notion that if the entire organ is removed, patients will have great difficulty in controlling the resulting diabetes," Dr. Wallace says. "Most surgeons try to leave as much of the pancreas as possible".
"What we have shown here is that, due to wonderful recent improvements in insulin therapy, patients without a pancreas can control their blood sugar as effectively as type 1 diabetes patients can," he says.
Although this study was small, Dr. Wallace says the findings are mirrored in the experiences of patients treated at Mayo Clinic in Florida with total pancreas removal.
Even though the approach of preserving as much of the pancreas as possible benefits most patients, leaving part of the pancreas in some patients may put them at risk of developing hard-to-detect cancer in the remaining organ, he says.
Similarly, patients who have a potentially precancerous cystic condition known as intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm in part of the pancreas can develop the same cysts in the part of the pancreas that remains after partial removal, he says. Removing the entire pancreas eliminates the possibility of recurrence in the residual pancreas.
"Most surgeons today make difficult decisions about how much of the pancreas to remove in a patient, but that process may become a little more straightforward now that we have demonstrated patients do well when their entire pancreas is removed," Dr. Wallace says.
###The study was funded by Mayo Clinic.
About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit MayoClinic.com or http://www.mayoclinic.org/news.
Mayo Clinic: Diabetes can be controlled in patients after pancreas removal
2012-08-30
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
US performs worst on potentially preventable death rates compared to France, Germany, and the UK
2012-08-30
New York, NY, August 29, 2012—The United States lags three other industrialized nations—France, Germany, and the United Kingdom—in its potentially preventable death rate, and in the pace of improvement in preventing deaths that could have been avoided with timely and effective health care, according to a Commonwealth Fund–supported study published as a web first online today in Health Affairs. Between 1999 and 2006/2007, the overall potentially preventable death rate among men ages 0 to 74 dropped by only 18.5 percent in the United States, while the rate declined by nearly ...
New study evaluates noninvasive technology to determine heart disease
2012-08-30
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – August 29, 2012 – A study published in the most recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) presented encouraging news regarding physicians' ability to determine blood flow and associated coronary artery disease (CAD) using noninvasive CT scanning technology. Data from the Determination of Fractional Flow Reserve by Anatomic Computed Tomographic Angiography (DeFACTO) study were presented on August 26 at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Munich, Germany. John R. Lesser, MD, a Cardiologist and senior researcher at ...
Fast food restaurant lighting and music can reduce calorie intake and increase satisfaction
2012-08-30
Your mood for food can be changed by a restaurant's choice of music and lighting, leading to increased satisfaction and reduced calorie intake, according to a new study.
"When we did a makeover of a fast-food restaurant, we found that softer music and lighting led diners to eat 175 fewer calories and enjoy it more," said the study's lead author, Brian Wansink, professor of marketing and director of Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab.
Wansink and his co-author, Koert van Ittersum of the Georgia Institute of Technology, found that softening the lighting and music ...
Study pinpoints malignant mesothelioma patients likely to benefit from drug pemetrexed
2012-08-30
Previous studies have hypothesized that low levels of the enzyme thymidylate synthase (TS) likely mark patients who will benefit from the drug pemetrexed – but results have been inconclusive at best and at times contradictory. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study recently published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology provides an explanation why: only in combination with high levels of a second enzyme, FPGS, does low TS predict response to pemetrexed in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.
"The hope is that oncologists could test a patient for TS and ...
For diabetics, a steady job is good for your health
2012-08-30
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—If you're diabetic or prone to diabetes, having a steady job appears to be good for your health, and not just because of the insurance coverage.
A new University of Michigan study found that that jobless working-age people with diabetes are less likely to adhere to their oral anti-diabetic medications than diabetics who are employed. Further, people of working age with diabetes are more likely to be unemployed than those who do not have diabetes.
The lack of a clear-cut, cause-and-effect relationship between insurance and medication adherence surprised ...
Soil Science Society of America announces 2012 award recipients
2012-08-30
MADISON, WI - Aug. 29, 2012 – The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) announces the following 2012 awards that will be formally presented during their Annual Meetings, Oct. 21-24, 2012 in Cincinnati, OH.
Susan Brantley, Earth and Environmental Systems Institute at Penn State - SSSA Presidential Award: Susan Brantley is Distinguished Professor of Geosciences in the Department of Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University. She received her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in Geological and Geophysical Sciences from Princeton University.
Daniel Hillel, Columbia University ...
Nurse leader resistance perceived as a barrier to high-quality, evidence-based patient care
2012-08-30
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A new national survey of more than 1,000 registered nurses suggests that serious barriers - including resistance from nursing leaders - prevent nurses from implementing evidence-based practices that improve patient outcomes.
When survey respondents ranked these barriers, the top five included resistance from nursing leaders and nurse managers - a finding that hasn't been reported in previous similar studies - as well as politics and organizational cultures that avoid change.
When asked what would help them implement evidence-based practice, respondents ...
African-American males most likely to lose academic scholarships, MU study finds
2012-08-30
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- College student retention and low graduation rates are the most significant problems associated with state-provided financial aid. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found that African-American males are the most likely to lose state lottery-funded scholarships with academic stipulations. Charles Menifield, a professor in the Truman School of Public Affairs at MU, found that more than 50 percent of African-American males lost state-funded scholarships over the course of a four-year academic career.
"Race turns out to be one of the best predictors ...
New Nature study illuminates 55 million years of the carbon cycle and climate history
2012-08-30
A study in the August 30 issue of Nature provides, in unprecedented detail, the history of a crucial indicator of the relationship between the carbon cycle and climate processes over the past 55 million years. Over this time period, when the Earth is known to have transitioned from "hothouse" to "icehouse" conditions, the oceans also experienced a dramatic shift in the carbonate compensation depth, or CCD. Defined as the depth below which carbonate minerals (such as calcite) dissolve completely, the CCD is known to fluctuate over time – it shallows during warm periods, ...
Computer viruses could take a lesson from showy peacocks
2012-08-30
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Computer viruses are constantly replicating throughout computer networks and wreaking havoc. But what if they had to find mates in order to reproduce?
In the current issue of Evolution, Michigan State University researchers created the digital equivalent of spring break to see how mate attraction played out through computer programs, said Chris Chandler, MSU postdoctoral researcher at MSU's BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action.
"This is actually a big question that still generates a lot of debate," said Chandler, who co-authored the ...