Bariatric Endoscopy is the most suited weight loss procedure for young obese people

Bariatric Endoscopy is the most suited weight loss procedure for young obese people

Dr. Maydeo & Dr. Bhandari bring it to ENLITEN, with dedicated centers across the country

Mumbai: To help young urban Indian fight obesity, famous Mumbai based gastroenterologist Dr. Amit Maydeo, and Dr. Mohit Bhandari, globally renowned Bariatric Surgeon have come together to launch bariatric endoscopy centers- ENLITEN. These centers will be a boon for the ones with obesity and visceral fat (a type of body fat that's stored within the abdominal cavity. The doctors’ duo has already performed 157 Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty (ESG) procedures and the number is growing. They shared the information while addressing media fraternity on the eve of launch of ENLITEN in Mumbai.

Dr. Mohit Bhandari is Founder Director and Chief Surgeon at Mohak Bariatrics & Robotics, Indore whereas Dr Amit Maydeo is the Chairman of Baldota Institute of Digestive Sciences, Global Hospital, Mumbai.

Dr Mohit Bhandari, having performed Asia’s highest number of Bariatric Surgeries Said, “I introduced the procedure in India in 2017, and have performed ESG on 52 female and 41 male patients. On June 13^th, I will perform this procedure on the 100^th patient. Overweight people in 20-40 age group, especially the ones following sedentary lifestyle, are opting for ESG. I am a Bariatric & Metabolic surgeon and while I have performed more than 12,000 bariatric surgeries, the thought of introducing the non-surgical procedure arose because in my practice I meet a lot of patients who

·       want to lose around 15-20kg weight and/or are afraid to undergo surgery.

·       Low BMI Diabetics

·       Have regained weight after bariatric surgery

Impacts of hormonal changes and professional health hazards are few other reasons. Then there are obese young girls finding it difficult to get married or conceive. ENLITEN is the ray of hope for them all. Also, with Endoscopic technique patients who have underwent bariatric surgery but have not had the desired result or have regained some weight can now undergo that weight loss by this Endoscopic revision procedure.”

According to Dr. Bhandari, along with weight loss, it can also improve other conditions like gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), heart disease or stroke, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. “ENLITEN, our new endeavor shall commit to establish bariatric endoscopy centers of international standards, across the country. With our joint expertise, we aim to create standards to bring best patient outcomes with utmost quality care”, he concluded.

Dr Amit Maydeo, Director, ENLITEN said “ESG is a non-surgical procedure where the patient gets discharged just after a day’s stay in the hospital. It is carried out using an endoscope, a flexible tube with a camera and an endoscopic suturing device attached. The tiny camera allows the doctor to carry out the procedure without making incisions. The sutures placed in the stomach modify the stomach structure thereby restricting the amount of calories the body absorbs. Starting with a liquid diet to semi-solid foods, and then to a regular healthy diet, the patient resumes the normal lifestyle in about a few weeks.”

He explained that ESG has many advantages like stomach function, anatomy and physiology remain normal. It is less expensive than bariatric surgery and can help one get rid of 15 to 20% of overall body weight. It is noteworthy that a loss of just 10% of total body weight reduces co-morbidity risk like heart problems by 90%. ESG is a restrictive procedure and the size of the stomach is reduced by 50%, the patient feels full early and won’t be hungry for a long time. “I have done 62 procedures till now, in which 80% were females, and 20% males” he added.

About Obesity:

According to the World Health Organisation’s factsheet published in the year 2018, more than 1.9 billion adults, and 18 years and older, were overweight, in 2016. Of these over 650 million were obese. 39% of adults aged 18 years and over were overweight, and 13% were obese, whereas, 41 million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese in 2016. Speaking about the Indian scenario, the figures published by the World Obesity Federation in Paediatric Obesity in the year 2016, suggest that if the current trends continue, by 2025, 268 million school-aged children (age 5 years to 17.9 years) worldwide will suffer excess bodyweight including 91 million who will have obesity. 

Obesity incidences are rising in India at an alarming rate. It may affect the other organs of the body, and the patient may go into metabolic syndrome (it refers to a set of disease risk factors that appear to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes). Over the last 15 years, gets type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular problems are rising in people with smaller body mass index (BMI), in Asian and Indian population. In India, a BMI of 25-29, is categorized as overweight and 29-33 as type 1 diabetes. Even if the BMI is less, the visceral fat (a type of body fat that's stored within the abdominal cavity), and central obesity (occurs when excessive abdominal fat around the stomach and abdomen has built up), can be present.  8 in 10 women have visceral fat which is harmful as it can promote long-lasting inflammation and increase the risk of chronic disease.

To cut down kilos, people opt for bariatric surgery which is a drastic procedure. While doing a gastric bypass or a sleeve gastrectomy, the stomach is cut partly. It also involves stapling, and joining, and can cause complications along with nutritional deficiencies, even when the weight loss occurs. Furthermore, Bariatric Surgery is suited for patients who need to lose a significant amount of weight (80% of excess body weight loss) and all other measures to control it have failed. There are many such patients who are in the bracket of overweight to obese and are not recommended bariatric surgery but want lose those extra kilos - endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty can be a new solution for them.

·      Maintaining fitness is a key need for young urban Indian but for their sedentary lifestyle

·      They also want to feel and look fit, travel, work, marry, grow family and live their life

·      To help the young urban Indian with ESG procedure, renowned specialists, Dr. Amit Maydeo and Dr. Mohit Bhandari have launched‘ENLITEN’.

·      ESG is safe, brings fast results, needs minimum hospitalization, causes no scars or cuts & ensures sustained weight loss.

·      Soon the ENLITEN centers will come up in Indore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi and other Tier 1 cities