I thought you all might find this interesting:
http://in.news.yahoo.com/now-sausage-skin-tackle-most-common -form-diabetes-104950823.html

Now, a 'sausage skin' to tackle most common form of diabetes!

By ANI | ANI – Sun, Aug 7, 2011

 

London, August 7 (ANI): Scientists have developed a sleeve implant that looks like a "giant sausage skin" to beat diabetes.

The 2ft-long device, developed as an incision-less alternative to a type of weight-loss surgery known as a duodenal switch, can reverse the disease within weeks, reports the Daily Mail.

The duodenum is the name for the first 10 to 12in of the small intestine, which attaches to the stomach.

The device, the EndoBarrier, is designed to have the same effects as surgery but is far safer. It is a plastic sleeve that lines the duodenum, meaning food can only be absorbed lower down the intestine.

The procedure is performed under anaesthetic in less than an hour. The sleeve - made from a thin plastic - is inserted via the mouth and passed into the digestive tract using a thin tube.

Once in place, a sprung titanium anchor prevents it slipping out. It is removed after a year.

During trials researchers found that in obese patients who also suffered diabetes, the disease went into remission.

Initially experts believed it was a result of weight loss - but many patients were able to stop taking their diabetes medication before they began to lose weight.

The discovery has led to clinical trials at three hospitals, which found the implant also seems to lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure. (ANI)

Yup, they're placing these in Europe. I prefer the term "intestinal condom" over sausage skin, though   :P

I'm wondering about how patients do once it's removed. I thought it was intended as an option for NON-obese diabetics who wouldn't want the actual DS because they didn't need to lose weight, but this article mentions "obese patients" specifically. If you're obese AND diabetic, just get the real deal, man!

I was wondering the same thing.  I also wonder what the long-term affects of having something like that in your body might be.  I understand not wanting to go all the way with the DS--it's a scary thing--the surgery in particular.  But for people *****ally need to lose weight and get rid of those co-morbidities, I think going all the way is the only way--it's worth it.

Sher-

Sounds like fun, but I'm done with plastic **** in my body. Just fix my real stomach please.

Sher, I've got to wonder what happens after the year is up and it is removed.  Does the diabetes come back and the lost weight?  Maybe do this first before a VSG...

I agree with you Jenny.  I wonder the same thing.  It just doesn't seem like a long-term sort of procedure.  I'm a DS girl all the way.

Sher-

I can see the uses for it, but I shudder to think of it getting dislodged somehow.

Wow, this is very interesting.  A few months ago I PMed someone on a different message board that has nothing to do with WLS.  This woman has bad diabetes, and had mentioned excess weight.  I said how great the DS has been for my diabetes, and I asked how high her BMI is.  I think she said it was 31.  It was too low to get a DS in the US, and I doubt she'd be interested in self-paying and traveling to get the switch portion with Dr. Baltasar.  So, she may be one of the people who could benefit from this implant, if further research shows good results after a year.  Of course, I also have the questions/skepticism already mentioned in this thread.



Edited for typos.

I'm going to look for the original link, but I read something about this a bit ago.  It said that it had to be removed after a year.  There are no studies to show whether it can safely be put in longer.  They said in theory you could take a year off and then do it again.  They also said the issue would probably come back when the sleeve is removed.  It said that people lost on average 40-ish% of their excess weight, it was similar to the band. 

It also had a picture of it - looked scary!  Like a long plastic bag with barbed wire on it! 

I thought there was something in there about some unwanted side effects but I can't remember.

I'm going to go searching for it now.....

Here it is:

http://www.meltingmama.net/wls/2011/04/wls-without-thewls-en dobarrier.html

Here was the "deal killer" for me: 

But at roughly $5,000, the EndoBarrier, considered an advanced investigational device in the United States, is not a permanent solution to diabetes, even for patients *****spond well to it. Nor is it without risks of its own. It is designed to stay in the gut for no more than a year, after which physicians believe most patients will revert to their diabetic condition. And while it can be put in place in 25 minutes under sedation that keeps a patient conscious, it was found in one study presented this week to have slipped, become obstructed, or caused problems leading to its removal in more than one-in-three cases. Intestinal bleeding can result if it becomes dislodged.

Ummm, no thanks.....