Manipal Hospitals announced the commencement of Bariatric and Laparoscopic OPD services in Kolkata recently. With an aim to address obesity, which is also the leading cause for diabetes, Dr. Sumeet Talwar, Manipal Hospitals shared insights on how this lifestyle disease can be tackled.

The case of 65-year-old mother Mrs. Shikha Haldar is extremely heartwarming as she was severely ill and came to Manipal Hospitals in emergency. Mrs. Haldar was suffering from high sugar levels, high blood pressure and the underlying cause was obesity. Considering her critical condition, she was admitted in the ICU. Once her condition stabilized, she was suggested to undergo bariatric surgery for a better quality of life. Post-surgery, Shikha’s blood pressure and diabetic levels normalized and she is now leading an extremely healthy life.

In fact after a year, Shikha’s daughter too underwent a successful bariatric surgery at Manipal Hospitals as she was also dealing with similar illness. Daughter was inspired after seeing her mother and decided to come from UK for the surgery. This was a turning point in her life and the surgery turned out to be a boon for both mother and daughter.

Speaking on the success rate of Bariatric surgeries, Dr. Sumeet Talwar, Manipal Hospitals said that obesity is often termed as a silent killer as most people don’t consider it as a disease in itself and treat only the ailments that accompany it. Caused by erratic lifestyle, genetic conditions or hormonal and complex psychological factors, obesity requires a multi-pronged corrective action. Children and adolescents too are increasingly falling prey to the disease. Sedentary lifestyle and regular consumption of junk food are some of the factors responsible for the increasing number of overweight adolescents.

With a healthy diet and an active regime, it is the best solution for overweight individuals and obese people, surgical interventions are required for morbidly obese people, who are neither motivated to follow a diet plan nor are physically fit to sweat it out. This form of surgery is called bariatric surgery. The good news is that bariatric surgery could cure diabetes by up to 80% and is therefore highly recommended for people with such medical condition.