Weighing up to 100kg, but only 1.53m tall, a young girl faces many dangerous diseases

20/06/2023 15:16

SKĐS – Health and Life – On May 30^th afternoon, from Viet Duc University Hospital information, recently the Hospital admitted a female patient N.T.D., 31 years old, 1.53m tall but weighing up to 100kg. With an “oversized” body, D. always has feelings of guilt, low self-esteem, stress, anxiety and often insomnia, very irritable.

The patient said that since childhood she was chubby than her peers, and by puberty she could not control her weight.

 

The obese body makes daily activities and D’s health difficult. She has tried many weight loss measures such as exercise and diet, but to no avail. With a BMI of 43, at Viet Duc University Hospital, doctors diagnosed her with grade 3 obesity.

 

According to Dr. Bui Thanh Phuc, MD, PhD – Deputy Head of Abdominal Emergency Department of Viet Duc University Hospital, patient N.T.D is one of nearly 300 obese cases who seek doctors at Viet Duc University Hospital when they cannot control their weight. Many cases fall into a state of low self-esteem and depression because of being overweight or obese.

 

 

When Patient D coming to the hospital, she was at grade 3 of obesity, high blood glucose(9.68 mmol/L glucose), associated with diabetes, and menstrual irregularities. Menstrual disorders and infertility are two of dozens of health risks that obesity causes and a huge “barrier” for obese patients, especially young, unmarried people. With the advice of doctors, patient D. has chosen the method of Gastric Tube Reconstruction to reduce the absorption of food into the body.

Surgery to treat obesity is being considered a fairly sustainable method. Viet Duc University Hospital is the first facility in Vietnam to perform this procedure, so far, nearly 300 surgeries have been performed, the youngest case is a 16-year-old girl, the oldest is 63 years old.

According to the Asian Criteria – Based on BMI, a person with normal weight (non-pregnant) when the BMI is between 18.5 and 23. If the BMI is between 23 and less than 25, it is considered overweight or pre-obesity; BMI between 25 and 30 is considered obesity grade 1; 30-35 is grade 2 obesity and over 35 is grade 3 of obesity.

 

“Patients who apply forming a gastric tube often have BMI over 30, associated with comorbidities such as high blood pressure, joint pain, infertility, diabetes, menstrual disorders…”- Dr. Bui Thanh Phuc, PhD adds.

 

At present, Viet Duc University Hospital performs many surgical methods to treat obesity such as laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB), Laparoscopic sleeve gastroplasty, etc. And recently, laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) has more advantages, lower mortality rate and is being widely applied in the US.

All surgeries are based on the simple principle of reducing the absorption of food into the body when the stomach has been reduced.

 

However, experts at Viet Duc University Hospital also emphasized that surgery is only a very small part of the whole process of obesity treatment. Treatment of obesity is a comprehensive course of living regimens, from medical treatment to psychological and surgical treatment. Successful surgery for management of obesity requires the patient to adopt a scientific diet and maintain a healthy lifestyle for life.