Not all obese need bariatric surgery: Doctor

NAGPUR: The demand for bariatric surgery, also known as gastric bypass or weight loss surgery, has increased 10-fold over the past decade. Many people who aren’t medically overweight are eager to get surgery, instead of exercising and practising diet control. But according to bariatric surgeon Dr Manish Motwani, weight loss surgery is not for every weight-challenged person.
Dr Motwani, who has performed over 11,000 bariatric surgeries, said obesity is a disease and like any other disease, it has stages. “The treatment for each stage of obesity is different and bariatric surgery is not for everyone afflicted with it,” he said.
Dr Motwani made it clear that surgery is advisable only for patients whose Body Mass Index (BMI) is more than 30. The BMI for people with healthy weight ranges between 18 and 25. People having more than 25 BMI are considered ‘overweight’, while those having 30+ BMI are considered as ‘grade I obese’. People with BMI between 35 and 40 are ‘grade II obese’ and obesity above 40 BMI is termed as ‘morbid obesity’.
The bariatric surgeon said insurance companies nowadays cover bariatric surgeries but give refunds only to those having BMI more than 40. “For people who are overweight or fall in grade I obesity, lifestyle changes, diet control and exercise are the ways to lose weight. If they gain more weight, obesity will bring other diseases like diabetes, hypertension, even cancers of different types in your body,” said Dr Motwani, who runs a weight loss clinic in Mumbai.
Recently, Dr Motwani has teamed up with Nagpur’s Arneja Heart and Multispecialty Institute and will perform bariatric surgeries in Nagpur now.
“In the last few years, I have performed at least 750 surgeries on Nagpur-based patients in Mumbai. This means at least 10 times more patients must be needing this surgery in Nagpur. With a local tie-up, it was possible for us to reduce the surgery costs,” said Dr Motwani.
The basic weight loss surgery that costs up to Rs3.50 lakh can be done in Nagpur for Rs2.75 lakh onwards. Moreover, the Arneja Hospital will provide interest-free loans to needy patients for 10 months.
Dr Motwani cleared several misconceptions about weight loss surgery. “People think they can eat anything they want and will never gain weight once this surgery is done. But that is not true. Your stomach becomes much smaller post-surgery and there is no room for junk food. You have to eat only nutritious food forever after surgery,” he said.