As befits a panacea, with obesity gone, other diseases disappear too
New Delhi: Go through bariatric surgery to shed heap of fat weighing morbidly heavy on your frame, to your pleasant surprise; you get freedom from many illnesses in the bargain- diabetes, knee pain, fatty liver, infertility, migraine, heart ailment, to name but a few.
Bariatric surgery is originally an obesity slashing procedure. But just as stockpile of body fat hurtle down, patient are gleefully amazed to find that many of their other disorders are also gone. You can aptly phrase it as ‘collateral cures’ of bariatric surgery.
Examples abound in the large number of Bariatric surgeries done by ace surgeon Dr. Praveen Bhatia, which clearly bear out windfall benefits. In fact, according to him, there is hardly an instance where bariatric surgery did not have multiple positive outcomes.
Talking to Medicare News, Dr. Bhatia, Chairman, Institute of Minimal Access Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery, Institute of Robotic Surgery (IRS), Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, says, ‘It has clearly emerged that obesity in fact is the villain of the piece. As mound of fat disembarks, all disorders induced by obesity also vanish. Bariatric surgery is primarily a weight lose procedure but it’s off label benefits are immense. It has now become almost a first line of treatment for diabetes. In the medicine, this surgery is a singular instance of one size fits all.
Here are some of the instances that give bariatric surgery a place of panacea:
Infertility– Neha, a lady working in IBM, was desperate to get a bundle of joy. But she was left disappointed even after going through IVF (test tube baby technique) thrice. After wasting 7 years of marriage, she came to Sir Ganga Ram and met Dr. Bhatia, also Medical Director of Bhatia Global Hospital. She went through weight loss surgery and, lo and behold, she conceived within 4 months of the bariatric surgery and took home a baby. Now, she is already planning for the next bundle of joy. Dr. Bhatia says, ‘While cause of her infertility was obesity, she was trying out other treatments.’
Knee Joint Pain– Given excruciating and persistent pain, 64 years old Sohanlal was headed for certain knee replacement. It never ever occurred to him that obesity might be the real culprit. But after a chance meeting with Dr. Bhatia, his line of treatment took a turn for better. After bariatric surgery, his knee pain vanished as his weight hurtled down. Dr. Bhatia says, ‘first known knee replacement in India was that of erstwhile Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee but it did not succeed. Why? It was because the weight of Vajpayee remained the same. Now think in terms of cost versus value- what a single surgery did, Sohan Lal would have to bear the cost of two knee replacements.’
Diabetes– It is stressing the obvious to say that bariatric surgery is a sure fire remedy for diabetes. Three ministers of PM Narendra Modi govt- Nitin Gadkari, Venkaiya Naidu and Arun Jately- are veritable trophies of the bariatric surgery and enough to shut up naysayers. This surgery literally pulled them back from catastrophic health situations. Reputed journals like Nature and Lancet have published articles underlining clinching evidences of diabetes disappearing after the surgery. They have categorically held that patients are completely cured of diabetes. In fact, this surgery has changed diabetes from a medical problem to a surgical one. It is increasingly becoming the first line treatment of diabetes. Dr. Bahtia says, ‘Many of my diabetic patients post this surgery have also started eating even mangoes. After bariatric surgery, they were freed from the disease.’
Heart Disease– One of my patients was 35 year old Ruchi whose heart was working only 35 percent. She was obese but, given her frail heart, she would not dare going through bariatric surgery fearing she might die during the process. Dr. Bhatia says, ‘I assured her nothing of the kind would happen. After surgery, her heart function improved huge to 65 percent.’
Fatty Liver– Fatty liver is a serious condition that can lead to fatal liver cirrhosis. Alcohol which causes it, is a complete sugar which is the ultimate killer. But post bariatric surgery, fatty liver condition also goes. Dr.Bhatia said, ‘even if one loses one kilogram weight, there is a remarkable improvement in fatty liver.’
Migraine– This headache has baffled the whole of medical community since time immemorial now. It is still much of a mystery and no cure has been found so far, but, according to Dr. Bhatia, it has been found almost every time that after this surgery, migraine disappears.
Snoring and Sleep Apnea– Last but not the least, Dr. Bhatia gave the example of a film producer in Mumbai who had many a close shave while driving car. The obese film producer would doze off while behind the wheel. But after bariatric surgery, he is all right now. His sleep quality has improved tremendously. His snoring was gone within 5-7 days of bariatric surgery. He goes for long drives now and has produced many a film. Fat under his neck had caused him Sleep Apnea and other breathing blues.
