Diabetes cure goes wrong direction

I just read a blog on HospitalImpact.com suggesting that doing a bariatric band surgery may be a last ditch, catch all cure for type 2 diabetes.

I think this type of thinking will move us in the wrong direction as a country. The traditional medical system in the US has always been to fix it when its broke. You don't have to tell me that traditions die hard, but we really need to shoot this one in the head. Now, many people suggest that education or surgery is the magic bullet, but really are they?

Education, as it is set up now, blasts people with TV ads telling them to lose weight or stop doing Meth, but are they effective? Education needs to be grass roots and adaptable to the population. New treatments, new lifestyles, new anything will never be sustainable unless the fit within the context of the persons culture. (Read Diffusion of Innovation by Everett Rogers)

In the book there is a story of a village that continued to get sick from drinking bacteria laden water. A group of educators arrived and tried to get the towns people to simply boil the water. It didn't work! The village would not adopt it! Why, because their cultural beliefs about the forces of hot and cold did not mesh with the educators preachings. Moral of the story: Make the education part of the culture.

Surgery to fix diabetes? Seems like the last ditch and life saving effort that ER's will have to start dealing with. I can see the chief complaint now, "Patient states, 'Obese times 30 years, wants lap band surgery before he dies!'" I don't think surgery is ultimately the catch all, nor should it be.

What we need is some innovation!!! Sorry for the buzz word, but I have not finished my blog on Quantumnessology yet... stay tuned for that one! But seriously, programs to reduce the crappy food we eat, increase the amount we exercise, and adopt healthier habits need a new twist. What about Health 2.0! How can social networking, cell phones, computers, technology, TV, video games be adapted to make getting healthier more adaptable to the population we want to help? The time for classroom lectures and over dramatized TV ads is over!

Question... How do you think health 2.0 will effect the world of prevention?