Health Archives - Page 2 of 14 - Digestive Surgery Clinic

May 23 Comments Off

Do Not Take Heartburns Lightly!

Posted by Dr. Sarfaraz Baig

Heartburns have become so commonplace in modern life that many have started believing it’s the new normal.

However, it’s definitely a disease if it’s prolonged and persistent; and goes by the scientific term- Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD).

It is estimated that the prevalence of GERD is 10-20% in America and Europe and 5% in Asia.

The disease is characterised by the burning sensation in the chest and regurgitation of good in the chest and throat after eating. Atypically, for some patient it may also be present with chronic cough, change in voice and difficulty in eating.

It’s important to treat it since it is distressing to pursuing normal activities. If left untreated, it may progress to cause chemical damage to esophagus and even cancer.

Many patients can be treated with medicines effectively. The antacid liquids and oral drugs need to be taken over long period of time for good results.

Some patients however will need surgery that goes by the term fundoplication. It is a Laparoscopic surgery that aims to strengthen the lower end of esophagus thereby preventing acid and food to enter it.

Patients have tremendous benefit from this procedure and may help patients go off medications permanently. It’s particularly helpful in relieving reflux, a very distressing symptom for these patients.

All patients with heartburns should have clinical evaluation to establish if they have GERD and then lab tests to see if they need medications or surgery.

Medical science has come a long way and nowadays the treatment has become very streamlined in a good center.

Apr 30 Comments Off

Bariatric surgery for children

Posted by Dr. Sarfaraz Baig

Is your child obese? Does he sit quietly in the house not wanting to go to school or play with other children? Is he or she snoring? Are her periods not normal?

If yes, your child could be harbouring the ill effects of obesity and he or she will need prompt treatment.

The childhood obesity could easily qualify to be one of the top problems the world is facing today because of the magnitude.

The causes of this tsunami of obese children have been plenty- food and inactivity being the major driving force.

There are some important reasons why we should not ignore obese children

1. It is incorrectly thought by parents that once they grow in height they would lose their bulges. Sadly, it does not happen that way! Most of these children are going to remain obese till adulthood.

2. We are now facing, for the first time in the history of mankind, the threat that the survival of this generation will be shorter than our predecessor! This is unprecedented!

3. Obese children suffer, just like adults, with diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, liver disease, heartburns, snoring and immobility. They have major psychosocial issues like poor self-esteem and lack of confidence. Many are ridiculed in school and shy away from group activities and interpersonal communication. This leads to abnormal development and growth that may result in permanent psychological trauma.

Treatment of obese children is a complex task. It needs involvement of parents, paediatricians, nutritionists, psychologists and bariatric surgeons.

In our center we evaluate each case individually and adopt the appropriate step. The initial strategy is always dietary and environmental modifications along with behaviour therapy. Sometimes bariatric surgery is needed.

Mostly we wait for skeletal maturity before taking up this surgery. However, in exceptional circumstances, when obesity is so crippling as to precipitate florid diabetes, high blood pressure and significant immobility and psychosocial issues then one must consider the bariatric surgery before it’s too late. There have been instances when waiting has been counter productive leading to permanent damage and in these situations an early bariatric surgery is beneficial.

In summary, obesity is in the rise in children. Prevention is the key and treatment whenever necessary has to be multidisciplinary in a centre where nutritionists, psychologists, endocrinologists and Bariatric surgeons work in tandem.

Apr 29 Comments Off

Fatty liver? Cirrhosis? Bariatric surgery can help!

Posted by Dr. Sarfaraz Baig

Liver disease is not uncommon in India. A few years back, the commonest cause was viral hepatitis. Recently, obesity has become the most frequent reason for liver disease.

It is therefore not surprising to note that obesity has become the commonest cause of liver disease needing a transplant.

To prevent this health hazard, we need to become more aware of obesity. Striving for weight loss obviously makes more sense than landing up in a situation where the liver transplant is needed.

It’s not always easy to bring down body weight through dieting and activity especially if the weight is above 100 kgs. Two decades back there were no options for these patients but now bariatric surgery – a laparoscopic procedure for weight loss – can help these patients.

It has been proven in studies, that obesity-related fatty liver and even cirrhosis can be completely cured with bariatric surgery.

This was unthinkable earlier!

It is strongly recommended that obese patients with fatty liver and cirrhosis should consider bariatric surgery.

A stitch in time saves nine!

Mar 15 Comments Off

Are We Letting Our Work Take Away Our Life?

Posted by Dr. Sarfaraz Baig

Modern life, whatever it means, has made us strive for more. All of us have this innate desire to progress and grow in our profession, career, business and acquiring more fame, wealth, land, accolades, etc.

Although growth may be a noble mission, we may get carried away and cross the thin line where progress may involve running in a rat race and competing with others rather than oneself.

Hunger for power may replace hunger for growth without our realization.

It may lead to being uncalm in life, restless, preoccupied with thoughts carried over from the workplace. The zeal to be ahead with the price of being eternally clouded with plenty of decisions that need to be taken on a daily basis. One gets drowned in the ocean of pending missions that we have created for ourselves.

Instead of living the moment, one always stays at the next moment, or the one after that.

As a result, cultivation of hobbies, pursuits of personal pleasures and development of important relationships suffer!

What’s worse is that before one can realize and rectify, the clock of life passes by at a pace that we have created.

It saddens me to see my younger colleagues at the beginning of their career, wary of their destination and difficult-to-define-success, slogging harder than necessary, at the expense of their health and happiness.

Not playing enough, not enjoying enough!

However, it’s possible to lead a better life without compromising on our aspirations even in this era of globalization, competition, and information overload.

Some simple techniques that help are

Staying at the moment– doing whatever one does with full focus and undivided attention improves productivity. Switch off that mobile and it’s alerted and do the job at hand. You can do it faster. And what’s great is you will finish your work in time and have enough time to spare for your other aspects of life such as family, health, hobbies, and friends.

Planning the day– do it a night before and adhere to it. Make sure that an 8-hour job remains 8 hours. Avoid taking your work home. Even in the head.

Make pigeon holes out of your time. If it’s work, work it is. If it’s family time, that’s where you concentrate.

Take out some ME time daily for a walk in the park or meditation alone. When you talk to yourself, you know what you want to do or don’t want to do in your life. And of course, when alone, you have the pleasure of enjoying your own amazing company!

Simple. Right?

So, let’s bring back the Work-life balance in our lives!

As a wise man said- working for a livelihood is not equal to living life!

Nov 21 Comments Off

Hernia Workshop At Philippines-An Experience Of A Lifetime.

Posted by Dr. Sarfaraz Baig

Recently I had an opportunity to visit the Philippines as an invited faculty for a Hernia workshop

The opportunity resulted when one of our trainees – Dr. Domingo Sampang- an extremely talented, skilful and kind-hearted surgeon who spent a couple of weeks with us at our centre, recommended our name to Dr. Alfred Allen Beunafe- the president of the Philippines Surgical Society.

Frankly, I was expecting a small training center attached to a private hospital in Manila. What I saw took me by surprise. There it was – a 4 story building with state of the art animal lab and a cadaveric station. The lecture hall was also well equipped as was the rooftop hall overlooking the stunning Manila skyline meant for refreshments.

I was stunned by the logistics and on enquiring, I found that this was a brainchild of none other than Dr. Alfred (I call him Allen now)

He was one of the pioneers in advanced laparoscopic surgery in his region and was enthusiastic even then to spread the knowledge and skills that he was acquired from the world over

This led him to start a nationwide tour where he would visit a surgeon in provinces and teach and train them free of cost

When he joined a premier private hospital in Manila he ensured that his spirit of imparting training did not end and ensured the creation of this state of the art training centre

I was also amazed at the energy Allen possesses. After a long day of clinical work involving multiple operations and training, he goes home way past midnight and sleeps as less as 4 hours (please don’t try this, I don’t recommend it) and is up again with full vigour and passion to lead the life.

Over a lunch the day after the workshop, I asked him and his lovely wife the reason behind the cheerfulness, contentment, and happiness that Allen has despite these long schedules

And Allen said – I love to give what I receive

And that line explained to me crystal clear why this man was happier than a lot many despite his mad rush.

He was interested not only in TAKING knowledge and learning skills, but he was also eager to GIVE it away too.

This way he contributed to his community of surgeons eager to learn from him. He was full of gratitude for those who taught him and received it manifolds from whom he trained

Probably that weaved a web of positive energy all around him keeping him and his companions always happy, always positive.

People like Allen make this world a better place to live in.

They know the value of the gift of GIVING!

Mar 07 Comments Off

Types Of Bariatric Surgeries

Posted by Dr. Sarfaraz Jalil Baig

India ranks third in terms of having obese individuals only after US and China. One in every five Indian is either overweight or obese.

However, the medical science has evolved a lot and so is the treatment procedure to deal with obesity. Weight loss surgery is the failsafe method to resolve obesity that generally lasts a lifetime.

The weight-loss surgery reduces the overall weight by making a permanent change to its digestive system surgically. These surgeries are carried out by either reducing the size of the stomach to limit the amount of food intake or by dissecting and re-routing the small intestine to reduce the nutrient absorption. However, the most effective approach uses both these principles.0

Let’s understand the four most common weight loss procedure-

1. Lap Band

The stomach is tied with a silicone band and divided into a smaller pouch on top, leaving behind the larger pouch in the bottom. The food intake gets stored only in the upper small pouch, thus it restricts the amount of food one can eat. The size of the pouch can be further adjusted by changing the amount of saline water through a port placed under the skin. After desired weight gain is achieved, the band can be removed.

2. Gastric Sleeves

The stomach is resized up to 15% of its original size. The resection is made along the larger curvature of the stomach. The smaller part is then stapled and the larger part is then removed. The reduced stomach size ensures the person consumes the much lesser amount of food.

3. Gastric Bypass

The stomach is divided into a smaller top pouch on top and a larger portion on the bottom. The small intestine is dissected and rerouted in between and it is connected to the smaller stomach pouch. The larger portion of the stomach still produces digestive enzymes, and it meets the semi-digested food in the small intestine instead of the stomach to ensure lesser absorption of nutrients into the body.

4. Duodenal Switch

The stomach is reduced by 25 percent of its actual shape. It is done vertically to obtain a banaba shaped thin stomach. The larger portion of the stomach is stapled and removed. The small intestine is also rerouted and connected to the banana-shaped stomach. The remaining part of the small intestine is left intact as it still produces digestive enzymes. This reduces the overall amount of food intake and ensures less absorption of nutrient by the body.

At Digestive Surgery Clinic, most of the weight-loss surgeries are done by laparoscopic approach.

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