Obesity in Turkey is spreading like a contagious disease

Weight-loss surgeries, such as bariatric surgery, are more effective at reducing body weight, compared with non-surgical methods such as diet and exercise, says Professor Umut Barbaros, a General Surgeon at Emsey Hospital.

Obesity has become the leading health problem in both developed and developing countries. In Turkey, obesity is more prevalent amongst women, compared to men. Besides lowering quality of life obesity is associated with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, coronary artery diseases, joint problems and sleep apnoea while also shortening life expectancy.

Pointing out to the fact that obesity is becoming more prevalent in Turkey each year, Professor Umut Barbaros, a General Surgeon at Emsey Hospital had this to say about the problem: “Obesity is a sneaky disease which causes different health problems.” Obesity is defined as “abnormal or excessive fat accumulation to the extent of harming wellbeing. It is the excessive increase of body lipid mass compared to non-lipid mass leading to height-weight ratio increasing significantly in favour of weight. That is why the relation between height-weight is very important.

Obesity leads to other medical problems as well. Cancer prevalence and deaths from cancer are parallel to obesity. Particularly, the prevalence of colon cancer in men and breast cancer in women increases significantly with obesity.

-wrong diet, excessive eating and consuming fast foods,

-sedentary lifestyles

-genetic factors, hormonal and metabolic effects,

-psychological problems,

-bad habits including smoking and alcohol

-the use of certain medications

-post-birth weight gain, hormonal changes

-incorrect dieting lead to people gaining excess weight.

Obesity is a medical problem that can be prevented and treated. The major cause of obesity is taking in more energy than one can consume. The excess energy is stored in the body in the form of fat. That is why it is important to reverse this balance by using more energy that one consumes.

Obesity treatment requires medical nutrition treatment (diet), exercise, behaviour change treatment, pharmacological treatment and, in severe cases, surgical treatment. Obesity surgery or otherwise known as bariatric surgery can be performed successfully.

The success rate of diet and other similar treatment methods in extremely overweight people is not more than 1-2%. That is why surgery is the most successful method for such patients.

Adjustable stomach clamp

Sleeve gastrectomy

Gastric By-pass (Roux-N-Y)

Conventional Biliopancreatic Diversion (BPD) operation.

All surgeries are performed laparoscopically and require about 3 days in hospital.

Obesity treatment, which is one of the most effective operations in permanent weight control, is performed for patients with life threatening weight problems that have failed to lose weight with dieting. Obesity treatment plays a positive role in social life giving patients the opportunity for a new chapter in their life.

www.emseyhospital.com