Combating the bulge

Innovative surgical procedures for excessive weight loss are now available in the metropolis.


Tehreem Aidrus June 25, 2011
Combating the bulge

KARACHI:


They say that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, but given the fact how shallow people have become today (after gawking at size-zero models in magazines),current conventions of beauty can put full-figured people into a quandary.


From crash diets to rigorous hours at the gym, men and women are perpetually trying to enhance their looks. But, such measures can do more harm than good as a person can pile on more weight once they give up their intense diet plan or stop visiting the gym. This often results in targets being missed, leading to disheartenment.

Now there’s another way of losing weight: A plethora of surgical procedures for triggering weight loss are available in Pakistan. These can potentially result in massive weight loss, albeit in a healthy way. Doctors strongly emphasise that these procedures are not a tool to merely enhance appearance, but are rather intended to mitigate health risks that obese people face.  The latest procedure available in the market these days is the intragastric balloon.

Intragastric Balloon (IGB)

This procedure is ideal for people who are obese and have made futile efforts to shed off extra pounds with the routine weight loss regimes. In this procedure, an endoscopy is first performed on the patient and then a deflated silicone sack is inserted into the stomach which is subsequently filled with sterile saline solution. This is accomplished without any surgical intervention to decrease the amount of gastric space. With the balloon occupying almost half the space in the stomach,  the patient will have the feeling of satiety after eating a small portion of his routine everyday diet. In this way, the person eats less causing his stored body fat to dissolve.

Although this procedure does not have any side-effects (since the body does not react to silicon), the patient can undergo bouts of nausea and vomiting during the initial few days following the surgery. The balloon can be left in the stomach for a maximum duration of one year, and can result in an average weight loss of 50 to 60 kilogrammes. While not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the US, the IGB is approved in Australia, Canada, India and several European and South American countries.

Dr Tasleem Soomro, who practices this procedure at the Laser Inn Aesthetic clinic in Karachi, confidently remarks, “People have received incredible results from this procedure. My patients are extremely happy with their progress and with the correct diet plan; patients can easily lose up to 60 kgs in a year.”

The IGB package for a year costs about Rs400, 000 (inclusive of visits to the dietician and frequent checkups). This procedure is lower in cost than a gastric bypass surgery, which costs approximately twice as much. The best thing about this procedure, which is entirely reversible, is that it helps one adapt to eating smaller servings of regular meals. By taming gastronomic desires, the procedure helps people in reaching their target weight.

Gastric bypass

The gastric bypass is a surgical procedure that reduces the size of the stomach by almost 90 per cent. The section of the stomach called the pouch stores the food. A normal stomach can stretch, sometimes to over 1,000 millilitres (ml), while the pouch after the gastric bypass can expand to only 15 ml in size.  Thus after ingesting just a small amount of food, the patient with the reduced pouch feels as if he or she has eaten a large meal. The procedure permanently reduces the size of the stomach and is irreversible. Hence young women are advised not to undergo it as it can hinder conception and child birth.

Amna Qureshi, a 34-year-old housewife and mother of four from Karachi, subsequently opted for the procedure and lost well over 30 kilogrammes in the span of six months. “The doctor warned me that I may have trouble conceiving again, but since I am already blessed with four children, I went ahead with the procedure,” she says.

It is quite easy to pile on pounds, but a dilemma to lose them. Yet now it seems that reaching the target of a healthy figure is only a surgical procedure away.

Celebrities who have had Gastric Bypass surgery

Randy Jackson

American Idol judge Randy Jackson underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2003 and has lost 50 kilogrammes (kgs) since then. He was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, which motivated him to undergo the surgery. Jackson’s peak weight was 160 kgs.

Sharon Osbourne

Sharon Osbourne, wife of musician Ozzy Osbourne, had gastric bypass surgery in 1999 and subsequently lost 45 kgs. In a recent interview with People magazine, Osbourne said that she was planning on reversing the surgery, and wanted to rely on psychotherapy to control her eating issues.

Diego Maradona

Despite being a former professional soccer player, Diego Maradona had a tendency towards putting on weight. In 2005, weighing 127 kgs, he underwent gastric bypass and subsequently slimmed down rapidly and lost approximately 60 kgs.



Published in The Express Tribune, June 26th, 2011.

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