Surgeon’s 'dire warning as number of obese women is set to soar to six million in two years.
RISING levels of obesity could leave millions of women infertile and ineligible for treatment on the NHS, a surgeon at the Imperial Trust has warned.
Dr Ahmed Ahmed has called for more obese women to be referred for drastic weight loss surgery to allow them to give birth naturally.
The 35-year-old, who specialises in the controversial gastric band operations, also stressed that IVF will not work for these women due to their size.
He said: “In 2003, the number of women over 16 in the UK who were obese was 4.8 million but by 2010 there will be six million.
“A lot of these women are of reproductive age and often can’t become pregnant naturally so they seek IVF, which is quite expensive and the NHS won’t pay for them because of their weight.”
Under government guidelines, women are entitled to at least onefree NHS cycle of IVF.
But many primary care trusts will not consider those who are obese due to the low success rate.
“These poor women are spending their life savings on IVF and it may not even work for them,” said Dr Ahmed.
“This is where the role of surgery comes in because there is evidence that surgery will help obese women lose weight and become fertile again. They will also become eligible for IVF.”
Dr Ahmed hit the headlines this summer when he shunned the dieting fads favoured by celebrities, and welcomed TV star Fern Britton’s decision to have gastric band surgery.
He proposed his latest ideas to tackle obesity and the linked fertility problems at a medical conference held at Paddington-based Imperial College on Wednesday.
He believes the way forward is for GPs to start making more referrals for weight loss operations than at present.
Currently around 4,000 people receive this type of treatment each year but National Institute of Clinical Excellence guidance says that number should be 60,000.
The cost of gastric bypasses, sleeve gastrectomies and the fitting of gastric bands start at £7,000, while IVF is around £4,000 per cycle.
Some critics have dismissed talk of offering the two procedures in combination due to the expense involved for the NHS.
But Dr Ahmed argues that rather than losing money, the health service would save cash if stomach-reducing surgeries were offered more widely.
“It will cost the NHS much more to treat long-term health problems if people are not given the opportunity to lose weight,” he said.
“And having the surgery might be enough for them to become pregnant naturally anyway.
He added: “There are also lots of other advantages to having the surgery because it reduces the risk of diabetes, still births, miscarriage, pre-eclampsia and physical malformations.”
sanchez.manning@hamhigh.co.uk
Dr Ahmed Ahmed has called for more obese women to be referred for drastic weight loss surgery to allow them to give birth naturally.
The 35-year-old, who specialises in the controversial gastric band operations, also stressed that IVF will not work for these women due to their size.
He said: “In 2003, the number of women over 16 in the UK who were obese was 4.8 million but by 2010 there will be six million.
“A lot of these women are of reproductive age and often can’t become pregnant naturally so they seek IVF, which is quite expensive and the NHS won’t pay for them because of their weight.”
Under government guidelines, women are entitled to at least onefree NHS cycle of IVF.
But many primary care trusts will not consider those who are obese due to the low success rate.
“These poor women are spending their life savings on IVF and it may not even work for them,” said Dr Ahmed.
“This is where the role of surgery comes in because there is evidence that surgery will help obese women lose weight and become fertile again. They will also become eligible for IVF.”
Dr Ahmed hit the headlines this summer when he shunned the dieting fads favoured by celebrities, and welcomed TV star Fern Britton’s decision to have gastric band surgery.
He proposed his latest ideas to tackle obesity and the linked fertility problems at a medical conference held at Paddington-based Imperial College on Wednesday.
He believes the way forward is for GPs to start making more referrals for weight loss operations than at present.
Currently around 4,000 people receive this type of treatment each year but National Institute of Clinical Excellence guidance says that number should be 60,000.
The cost of gastric bypasses, sleeve gastrectomies and the fitting of gastric bands start at £7,000, while IVF is around £4,000 per cycle.
Some critics have dismissed talk of offering the two procedures in combination due to the expense involved for the NHS.
But Dr Ahmed argues that rather than losing money, the health service would save cash if stomach-reducing surgeries were offered more widely.
“It will cost the NHS much more to treat long-term health problems if people are not given the opportunity to lose weight,” he said.
“And having the surgery might be enough for them to become pregnant naturally anyway.
He added: “There are also lots of other advantages to having the surgery because it reduces the risk of diabetes, still births, miscarriage, pre-eclampsia and physical malformations.”
sanchez.manning@hamhigh.co.uk
-------------------
Sanchez Manning
No comments:
Post a Comment