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In the United States, More than 100 million adultsor about 40% of the adult population, have obesity, and the prevalence of obesity has been steadily rising for decades. Obesity is a chronic disease that increases the risk of other chronic and life-threatening diseases such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke and certain cancers. Obese people also experience high weight stigma or stereotypes, abuse and social devaluation related to weight.
For obese people, bariatric surgery is available. Bariatric surgery can lead to substantial weight loss and improve many related diseases including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, sleep apnea and certain cancers. It is also shown that bariatric surgery can be greatly reduced in clinical causes such as cardiovascular events and may reduce the risk of long-term mortality in obese individuals by as much as 40%. Over the past 10 years, approximately 2 million people living in the United States have undergone two of the most common types of bariatric surgery, including sleeve gastrectomy and roux-en-yy gastric bypass. 200,000 New procedures are executed every year.
In addition to the determined clinical benefits of bariatric surgery, the general safety of bariatric surgery has also established a good complication rate in line with common surgical procedures such as minimally invasive gallbladder removal. However, in rare populations, an underlying debilitation may occur in the years after bariatric surgery, called post-hypoglycemia.
Understand blood sugar hypoglycemia
Post-lipid hypoglycemia or PBH is a disease that can occur one year or years after bariatric surgery. Although the exact cause of PBH is not fully understood, GLP-1 is believed to play a major role in overreacting meals. Excessive levels of GLP-1 lead to excessive secretion of insulin, which causes blood sugar levels to drop too low, a disease called hypoglycemia.
PBH may lead to persistent, frequent and debilitating blood sugar-lowering events in certain individuals. Certain symptoms, such as sweating, tremors, and respiratory symptoms, are caused by the body that tries to increase blood sugar levels. Other symptoms are due to insufficient supply of blood sugar to the brain. This deprivation may manifest as cognitive impairment, loss of consciousness, seizures and other symptoms, which may lead to significant disruption to independent living.
Repeated examples of hypoglycemia can lead to unrecognition of hypoglycemia, in which case the body does not produce the typical early signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia. Failure to identify hypoglycemia as early as possible increases the risk of serious events, further impairs safety and requires help from others.
Solve conditions with high unmet needs
It is estimated that PBH has affected about 8% or 2 million of 160,000 people over the past decade, who have undergone two of the most common types of bariatric surgery.
There are currently no approved therapies for PBH, but the scientific community has made great progress in conducting research. Amylyx, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is committed to developing potential new therapies for communities with high unmet needs, including patients with PBH.
“We feel unwavering about communities with high unmet needs and taking this responsibility is at the heart of what we do. Our research is guided by emerging science and understood that people living in conditions like PBH are suspected, even ignored, and have lived in search of answers for too long.
For people with PBH, it feels like a daily struggle with ongoing, regular and debilitating blood sugar-lowering events that have profound effects on their quality of life, leaving many unable to drive, work, live alone or take care of their caregivers. Fortunately, scientific understanding of PBH is developing rapidly, and potential therapies in clinical trials have also made people of PBH and its families hopeful.
