First Canadian Summit on

Nicolas Christou MD PhD
Professor of Surgery,
McGill University
Director, Bariatric Surgery,
McGill University Health Center

The World Health Organization warns that globally, there are more than 1 billion overweight adults, at least 300 million of them obese. Obesity and overweight pose a major risk for chronic diseases, including Type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke, and certain forms of cancer. The key causes are increased consumption of energy-dense foods high in saturated fats and sugars, and reduced physical activity.

The Canadian Diabetes Association report (December 8 2009), titled An Economic Tsunami: The Cost of Diabetes in Canada, warns that more than 20 Canadians are diagnosed with the Type II diabetes every hour, and that number is expected to continue to rise over the coming years such that by 2020, one in 10 Canadians will have diabetes. The economic burden of diabetes in Canada is calculated to be about $12.2 billion and the cost is expected to rise by another $4.7 billion by 2020.

Emerging evidence shows that bariatric surgery can dramatically improve Type II diabetes, allowing many patients to maintain normal blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin levels while discontinuing all diabetes-related medications. On-going research studies point toward the rearrangement of gastrointestinal anatomy as a primary mediator of the surgical control of diabetes. This type of bariatric or “metabolic” surgery can be done by minimally invasive approaches that are extremely safe.

The purpose of this First Canadian Metabolic Summit on Surgery for Type II Diabetes, is to present and examine the evidence for the consideration of adding bariatric (metabolic) surgery to the armamentarium of treating type II diabetes in Canada so as to improve the health of the Canadian diabetic population and reduce health care expenditures of our cash strapped provincial and federal governments.