More than 800,000 additional people in the UK could be considered for gastric bands or other surgery to restrict their eating under fresh NHS draft guidelines, reports [s]The Guardian[/s]. The guidance from [b]Nice, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence[/b], aims to help the increasing numbers of people with type 2 diabetes. Nice is proposing lowering the threshold for considering bariatric surgery for people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes to a BMI of 30, which is the point at which overweight begins to be classified as obesity. Until now, Nice has said that people with type 2 diabetes could be considered at a BMI of 35. If the change in guidance were confirmed, it would mean a huge rise in the numbers who could be referred for assessment and possibly surgery if their doctors think it appropriate.
[link url=http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jul/11/nhs-anti-obesity-gastric-bands-diabetes]Full report in The Guardian[/link]
[link url=http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/gid-cgwave0682/resources/obesity-update-draft-guideline-nice2]NICE draft guidelines[/link]