A procedure that involves inflating a hot balloon inside the gut could reverse type 2 diabetes and free thousands of patients from daily insulin injections, say doctors.
The pioneering operation is set to be offered to a handful of British patients as part of an international trial, after promising early results which saw three-quarters of those who underwent it ditch the drug.
The technique, known as duodenal mucosal resurfacing, involves the balloon being threaded on a long, thin tube down the throat, into the stomach, and then the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine.
The pioneering operation is set to be offered to a handful of British patients as part of an international trial, after promising early results which saw three-quarters of those who underwent it ditch the drug