GP takes drastic action to rid himself of chronic illnesses
A doctor at the Shepherd’s Bush Medical Centre has been cured of a range of chronic illnesses after losing an incredible 8 stones (50 kilos) in less than six months.
Dr Ahmed Badat weighed in at 23 stones (145 kilos) and suffered from diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, high cholesterol and sleep apnoea (snoring).
But after undergoing gastric bypass surgery – or stomach stapling - at Charing Cross Hospital in January, his weight dropped to 15 stones (98 kilos).
“I’m a different person,” Dr Badat told ShepherdsBushW12.com. “I could hardly walk a few hundred metres without being out of breath. Now, I can walk two kilometres and I’m not breathless.”
Dr Badat said he had tried dieting in the past but the operation was the only way to keep his weight permanently down: “I now eat small portions three times a day,” he said. “I don’t feel hungry – ever.”
But he said his main reason for going ahead with the surgery was to rid himself of his health problems: “I was taking 18 tablets a day. I was taking high doses of insulin and it wasn’t working. Now I’ve stopped all my medication.”
Dr Badat said he had considered having the operation 10 years ago, but back then, the risks were too great: “There used to be a 30% mortality rate,” he said. “Now they do keyhole surgery, they don’t open you right up and the mortality rate is very low. They have a fantastic unit at Charing Cross.”
The 62-year-old said his operation had taken just two hours and he had suffered no side effects.
He said he had already referred 15 patients from his surgery to the Charing Cross unit and, with at least 10 other surgeries in the Shepherd’s Bush area, he estimated there must be around 150 people who could benefit from the operation.
“Statistically, it increases your life by 15 years,” he told ShepherdsBushW12.com. I would recommend it to anybody who has got my conditions.”
One of the possible pitfalls of losing so much weight in such a short space of time is that patients might develop gallstones, Dr Badat warned.
But he clearly believed the benefits far outweighed any potential problems: “Five chronic diseases have disappeared. That’s a miracle,” he said.
Yasmine Estaphanos
15 June 2008