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Mexico ranks second worldwide in the prevalence of obesity, according to data from the World Health Organization, and the Yucatan peninsula is not exempt from this problem that risks public health, as the region reaches levels of 37.2 percent. hundred.
Said international organization has documented that this problem not only causes an increase in cases of diseases such as diabetes mellitus, chronic arterial hypertension and heart disease, but also reaches the point of completely incapacitating a person and even causing premature death. .
In an interview with La Verdad Noticias, Dr. Deysi Centeno Martínez, a bariatric surgeon at the Yucatan Peninsula High Specialty Regional Hospital (HRAEPY), explained that obesity can manifest itself in different degrees, the most dangerous being morbid.
Obesity risks lives
The specialist pointed out that according to the National Health and Nutrition Survey (Ensanut), in the southeastern region of Mexico, 70 percent of the population is overweight and from there, 30 percent are diagnosed with obesity.
He said that of the people with the latter disease, between 70 and 80 percent could develop morbid obesity, if they do not receive professional medical attention to prevent this increase in weight and height.
Centeno Martínez explained that morbid obesity is diagnosed when a patient has a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 40 points. This is calculated with a multiplication between the height, the weight and the measurement of the abdominal area.
The doctor indicated that “unfortunately” misinformation about this disease also prevails and those who suffer from it are unaware that they are living with a problem, since it develops gradually with weight gain and patients do not seek help until they already present symptoms or diseases that put their lives at risk.
“Symptoms show up when diabetes comes on, but you probably won’t even realize it until you have serious problems like kidney failure, a diabetic coma, that’s when you’re going to go to a hospital and it’s going to be too late to that we can reverse all those chronic changes that the patient suffered,” he said.
However, the surgeon recognized that there are cases in which a good diet and exercise are not the only solution to lose weight, since there are people who, even making these efforts, cannot lose weight and, on the contrary, tend to gain more.
For this, there are surgical procedures focused on helping high-risk patients to lose weight quickly and safely, such as gastric bypass and gastric sleeve, which are currently carried out through minimally invasive procedures.
A change of life
Felicita García García is a Yucatecan who until last year weighed 111 kilos, measuring only 1.58 meters tall. Aware of her degree of obesity, the 40-year-old woman practiced diets, did exercise routines in different gyms and even resorted to taking pills to lose weight, but none of this worked for her.
He indicated that carrying such a large body caused pain in his legs, in the soles of his feet, and also accelerated his breathing with the slightest effort, like climbing the stairs in his house.
In mid-2022, Felicita required a gallbladder operation at HRAEPY, but her doctor recommended that she lose weight, so he referred her to the bariatric area to learn about the gastric bypass option.
After his surgery in October, he began studies to undergo this procedure, which consists of reducing the size of the stomach and creating a bridge between it and the small intestine, so that his body absorbs the least amount of fats from food.
At the beginning of March, her surgery was given the green light and she was admitted to the operating room to be the first patient at the new HRAEPY Bariatric Clinic, the only one of its kind located in the entire southeast of Mexico.
“On March 16, I had surgery and I feel very happy, very happy, a change for the better in my life, because thanks to this I have a smaller stomach and I have managed to lose more than 10 kilos in four weeks,” she said.
New clinic inaugurated
With the aim of preventing cases of morbid obesity and reducing the prevalence of obesity, the HRAEPY inaugurated this morning its new Bariatric Clinic, which will attend free of charge to all people seeking to access one of these surgical procedures to lose weight, free of charge.
Dr. Centeno Martínez explained that any patient who does not have rights in any public health institution can go to the pre-consultation area from Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., to request an assessment in this new space in the Mezanin building, located in said hospital north of Merida.
“All patients are comprehensively cared for by a multidisciplinary team made up of bariatric surgery, nutritionists, psychiatrists, psychologists, internists, and anesthesiologists, to ensure that the patient has adequate preoperative and long-term preparation after surgery, can maintain a adequate weight for even up to 10 years after surgery”, he stressed.
For his part, the general director of HRAEPY, Alfredo Medina Ocampo, commented that the Bariatric Clinic is already in operation and its goal during the first months is to perform one surgery a week, hoping that the number will triple over the next few months. months.
“Obesity is a public health problem in Mexico, this is very important because we, as a federal hospital, have to work to reverse this type of problem, control it and, in due course, bring it down,” he added.
