The beauty of our life lies in good health. Good health is the result of healthy and active lifestyle. A slight ignorance on our part and a number of diseases are waiting to attack us. And obesity is one of them.
Bariatric surgery gives hope to those people who are dangerously obese. Dr. Sumeet Shah, Head, Department of Minimally Invasive & Bariatric Surgery, Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (ISIC) says, “Bariatric surgery is the best available surgery in our country for sustainable and long term weight reduction. It is a life saving surgery. This surgery is performed on stomach and intestine which leads to overall weight loss and also several alterations in gut hormones leading to lower appetite, better control of blood sugar, normalisation of altered lipid profile and better metabolism etc.”
Bariatric surgery has three types of procedures. The duration of surgery and recovery time varies accordingly. He says, “The surgery can take up to three hours and recovery time ranges from a week to three weeks.” The type of surgery depends on the need of patients. He adds, “The first procedure is Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding, second is Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy and third is Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass.”
A success story
This surgery is not exactly new in our country. Dr. Shah says, “The practice of this surgery was started five to seven years back in India. The success rate is 90 per cent. After surgery a gradual weight loss is witnessed from first month and 40-50 per cent excess weight is reduced in one year.” Are there any side-effects of the surgery? He adds, “There is no specific complication after the surgery.” Patients go through various check-up and clinical examinations before the surgery like endocrine, hormonal check-up, blood sugar, ultrasound after which the type of surgery is decided upon. “And there is age restriction for this surgery. People between age group of 16 to 60 can go through this surgery,” further adds Dr. Shah. The simple way to know the status of one’s weight is BMI (Body Mass Index) measurement. Dr. Shah says, “The BMI measurement shows whether a person is obese or not. It depends on the ratio of weight for height. It is based on weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters. More than 35 BMI is obese and more than 40 BMI is morbidly obese.”
According to World Health Organization obesity is a chronic disease and there are many causes which lead to obesity, diabetes and genetics being the prime ones. “India is the diabetic capital of the world. In our country people don’t take obesity as a disease. Exercise and regular weight check-up can keep the disease at bay,” advises Dr. Shah.
