increase a woman''s fertility
The consultant obesity and endoscopic surgery, Dr. Adel Abdullah Bakhsh, warned members of the community who want to undergo "gastric sleeve" operations from being led by advertisements on social media for "capsules" whose promoters claim to be an native to "sleeve gastrectomy".
Dr. Adel stressed in an interview with "Okaz" that these capsules are not "safe" and are not a substitute for the treatment of "obesity", and they are only an opportunity for the weak of souls to trade in people''s health.
The consultant described "obesity" as the mother of diseases, stressing the importance of putting forward an integrated national plan to prevent the occurrence of obesity .. So to the details of the dialogue:
Doctor Adel .. Is it possible to initially know what is the difference between being overweight and obese? In other words, when does weight gain reach the point at which we call it obesity?
It is well known that weight gain is the stage before obesity, and it can be determined by calculating the body mass index through the following equation: body mass = weight (kg) / height (m) 2, so weight gain if it is a mass index The body is between 24 and 29, while obesity is when the index reaches 30 and above. Obesity stages depend on mass.
Does weight gain require surgical treatment, such as obesity?
• Weight gain does not require surgery because the body mass is less than 30, all that the patient needs is a healthy diet and an exercise regime that leads to burning more calories than the calories that the body gets through eating.
• Can we identify the main reasons behind the increase in obesity in Saudi society?
The reasons are multiple The most important of them are changing the lifestyle that tends to luxury and avoiding exertion in daily life, such as driving a car on close trips instead of walking and sitting for long periods of time watching TV, or following social media programs instead of exercising, and using the elevator instead of stairs.
The second reason is the difference in the quality of food due to the spread of fast food restaurants that are rich in calories from fats, starches and sugars. And the presence of the obesity genetics makes the previous factors more influential in the occurrence of obesity of all kinds.
• There are many methods of surgical treatment for obesity, which causes confusion for the patient in choosing the appropriate treatment. What would you advise an obese patient?
• I advise the patient to take the opinion of a surgeon who specializes in bariatric surgeries and who has experience, to determine the appropriate operation based on the patient''s medical and surgical history. These procedures are accredited by the American Association of Bariatric Surgeons (ASMBS) and European Society of Bariatric Surgeons (IFSO).
• Do you mean that there are operations or procedures that are not authorized by these associations?
President Assad: Unfortunately, yes, there are operations that are performed for patients while they are still under study, and they are publicized, such as stomach injections with botox and gastric fold operations. The surgeon who performs it must inform the patient and obtain his consent that it is an operation under study and its effectiveness in the long term has not been determined, and these operations are performed under the supervision of a third party such as the hospital medical board or the profession ethics board to review the results and complications.
• Social media is full of marketing for native pills or capsules for the sleeve gastrectomy. Have you seen cases of health problems as a result of taking such medicines?
President Assad: Of course, it is not an native and it is not a cure for obesity. It is an opportunity for the weak-minded to trade in people''s health. I witnessed several cases of increased blood pressure, palpitations, excessive nervousness and anemia as a result of taking these medicines whose components are unknown and not authorized by the Food and Drug Administration.
• Are liposuction and tummy tuck operations considered obesity treatment?
They are cosmetic surgeries that are not used to treat obesity, and they are performed for patients who are of ideal weight or close to it, but who suffer from a mass of fat in a specific area that needs aspiration to improve the shape. As for tummy tuck operations, they are performed for patients who suffer from sagging in the abdominal wall, and in case of obesity, it is better to perform the sleeve gastrectomy first and then the tummy tuck and not vice versa as some patients do.
As for the sleeve gastrectomy operations, do they have side effects on women during pregnancy?
• The occurrence of pregnancy in the presence of obesity may cause multiple health problems for the mother, such as gestational diabetes and high blood pressure with an increase in the incidence of miscarriage. Getting rid of obesity by the process of sleeve gastrectomy has positive effects, not only that it avoids the mother’s problems that we mentioned previously, but also addresses hormonal changes That occurs as a result of obesity and treats polycystic ovaries, and thus increases women''s fertility and increases the incidence of pregnancy. I advise the sisters to delay pregnancy after the operation for a year until they have reached the ideal weight, and thus pregnancy occurs in the best healthy conditions for the mother and the fetus.
• There are brokers promoting obesity surgeries outside the country. Do you receive cases that have had complications after the operation as a result of its inaccurate procedure?
Unfortunately, many cases, including weight failure due to leaving a large part of the stomach. Leakage cases with the aggravation of the problem in the patient''s inability to follow up with the surgeon who performed the operation in a timely manner
• Are there any health diseases other than obesity that can be treated by the sleeve gastrectomy?
Obesity is the mother of diseases. Because it is the cause of many health diseases, including but not limited to, type 2 blood sugar, high blood pressure and cholesterol, erosion of the knee joints, lack of oxygen during sleep that reaches apnea, fatty liver, polycystic ovaries and some types of cancerous tumors. The sleeve gastrectomy operation gets rid of these diseases for the patient with weight loss and improves the psychological and social aspects. The sleeve gastrectomy is the surgical treatment for type 2 diabetes.
Are balloon surgeries a safe native to the sleeve gastrectomy?
The sleeve gastrectomy is safe if it is performed by a surgeon specializing in obesity surgeries and an anesthesia staff who has sufficient experience in anesthesia for obesity cases, and it is performed in a hospital that has the necessary capabilities, such as intensive care, blood bank, equipped radiology department and interventional treatment department through an oral endoscope.
Balloon operations are not an native and are not safe in all cases. Patients who attended the sleeve gastrectomy and had previous experience with the balloon, the balloon result was: one in three. Either the balloon is extracted after a week to not tolerate the pain and nausea caused by the balloon, or the weight that the patient lost and an increase in a short period after removing the balloon. Or not to lose weight, but perhaps to gain weight despite the presence of the balloon.
• How do you see efforts to combat obesity at the level of the Arab world in general and at the level of Saudi Arabia in particular?
A: There are multiple national programs to combat various epidemic diseases by raising awareness, providing the necessary vaccines, and recruiting various ministries and institutions, but unfortunately there is no integrated national plan to prevent the occurrence of obesity, although it is the most common disease, and it is, as I mentioned previously, the mother of diseases, and preventing obesity is a prevention of multiple other diseases. Like sugar and pressure.
I hope that there will be an integrated plan in which the efforts of the ministries of health, culture, information, education and entertainment authority will be determined to raise awareness for individuals and families about the danger of obesity and provide free sports centers in the neighborhoods for daily and easy exercise, and strive seriously to prevent obesity, especially among children, to reach generations free from obesity. .
