The New York Times
January 24, 2007
Author unknown
At the beginning of this article the author explains to the reader that there is now a different approach to the most dangerous type of diabetes, type 2. Instead of strict dieting, drugs, and a lifetime of careful living, there is now a stomach shrinking surgery that is being tested by Australian researchers. The author explains facts about diabetes being an inibility to to make or use insulin without the blood glucose levels soaring, and also stating that 73,000 Americans die from this disease each year making it the fifth leading cause of death in the United States. The author uses emotions by telling the reader that there is no cure for this disease and many patients suffer heart attacks, blindness, kidney failure or foot amputations. He explains the study in detail using normal vocabulary instead of scientific resulting that almost three quarters of the patients who had the surgery's signs of diabetes disappeared. The difference between the patients who had the sugery and the other's who only had conventional treatment is weight loss. The patient's that were medically treated only lost about 1.7 percent of their weight, and the patient's who had the surgery lost about 20.7 percent. Before the last paragraph of the article the reader may have his or her own opinion on surgery versus conventional procedures for diabetes, but then the author states, "Some experts predict that surgery will become a common treatment for diabetes in coming years. Before that happens, it will be essential to see how patients fare over an extended period and get a better fix on which patients are most likely to benefit from costly surgeries that always bear some risk." This article was very interesting and informative. The author did a great job of explaining the background information of diabetes and the treatments before this new procedure along with arguing his point using emotions and facts.
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3 comments:
I think its really cool that there is an attempt being made to reduce the amounts of deaths caused by type 2 diabetes. I didn't realize it was the fifth leading cause of death. I really appreciate it when authors use a language capable of being understood. It makes me feel like the author doesn't think I'm an idiot.
I think it's going to take a while to get this completely accepted in the US though. It seems like it is a newer option, and people need to be observed for the rest of their lives to see if there are any long term effects. But it sounds like the author knew the facts and did the research.
My dad just got diagnosed with type two diabetes, so this article was very interesting to me. The doctor said that it could go away if he lost weight and ate healthier. He went on a strict diet and exercising often. So far, it seems to be working. Hopefully, the diabetes will go away, but if not maybe the surgery could help.
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