Fat man's BMI exceeds 100, doctor: gastric band surgery is not ruled out

A 330-kilogram Thai Chinese named Cai recently flew back to Taiwan for medical treatment. Currently, Cai is receiving treatment at the Weight Management Center of Taipei Medical University Hospital. The hospital is quite low-key, but the doctor pointed out on the 14th that because Cai is severely morbidly obese and his body mass index (BMI) exceeds 100, the risk of surgery is very high. The hospital will wait until his BMI is below 70 before considering weight loss surgery. For now, he can only adjust his diet and gradually improve his condition with exercise.

Doctors emphasize that clinically, a BMI value of more than 40Kg/M2 is considered morbid obesity.

Wang Wei, director of the Weight Management Center of the National Taiwan Health College of Medicine, pointed out that the 38-year-old man surnamed Cai lived in Thailand 10 years ago. At that time, he weighed about 150 kilograms. Now his weight has doubled to 330 kilograms, so he decided to return to Taiwan for medical treatment. Since Tsai was unable to enter the country through customs like a normal passenger, his family applied for emergency clearance for serious illness on his behalf. With the help of the Taipei City Health Bureau, they requested the Taipei City Fire Department to dispatch nearly 10 personnel to the Taoyuan Airport apron to carry out medical rescue missions.

Currently, Cai is undergoing a full-body health check and has completed electrocardiogram, cardiovascular and other tests, confirming that he has symptoms such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and high blood lipids. Since Mr. Cai is severely morbidly obese and his compliance with medical advice is not ideal, gastric banding surgery is not ruled out as a priority, but the high risk of death from anesthesia still needs to be evaluated.

Wang Wei emphasized that the definition of morbid obesity is that too much fat accumulates in the body, causing health problems; clinically defined, a BMI value of more than 40 is considered morbid obesity. The current concept of morbid obesity is no longer just a problem of being overweight, but is regarded as a chronic disease that requires active treatment.

Bariatric surgery can be divided into two categories: restricting food intake and reducing absorption. Among restrictive surgeries, gastric banding and sleeve gastrectomy are the main representative surgeries, while among absorption-reducing surgeries, gastric bypass is the main representative surgery. Other less common surgeries include biliopancreatic diversion, duodenal switch, etc. As for Cai's weight loss plan, he hopes to lose weight to less than 150 kilograms within six months through surgery, diet, and exercise.