Women increasingly opt for weight-loss surgeries

Sharjah: As many as 389 people, 70 per cent of them women, went in for bariatric (weight loss) surgeries in the last two years at the Al Qasimi Hospital, doctors have disclosed.

"We have up to 50 people on the waiting list," said Dr Tareq Mahdi, consultant general and bariatric surgeon, with the hospital. "On average there are three to four such surgeries every week. Due to high levels of obesity and diabetes, more people are opting for it."

Dr Mahdi said those who weighed more than 120 kilograms had a higher risk of hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and joint problems.

"People are more aware of the diseases they are prone to [develop] because of obesity. The doctors tell them about the precautions and also the risk factors before the person makes the final decision of whether to go for bariatric or not," Mahdi said.

He said the percentage of complications arising from such surgeries ranged between 1 and 5 per cent.

"The hospital did not record any complications except in three cases which were carried out by visitor doctors and not the hospital staff," he added.

Among the various types of bariatric surgeries, the most popular ones were the sleeve gastrectomy and the gastric bypass, in which doctors shrink the stomach and alter the digestive system to induce weight loss.

The surgery is free for emiratis and costs expatriates Dh15,000, Mahdi said.