MUMBAI, India: Indian doctors said Thursday that an Egyptian who is believed to be the world’s heaviest woman had successfully undergone weight-loss surgery after losing over 100 kilograms (220 pounds).
Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty, who previously weighed around 500 kilograms, had not left her house in Egypt in over two decades until arriving in Mumbai last month for bariatric surgery.
“We are happy to inform all well-wishers that the medical team of Saifee Hospital has successfully performed the surgery on Eman Ahmed,” said a statement.
“Eman successfully underwent a Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy on March 7th 2017 at Saifee Hospital. She had an uneventful surgery and anaesthesia course.
“She is now on oral fluids and accepting them well. The future course of action for the medical team working on her will be to correct all her associated medical problems, to get her fit enough to fly back to Egypt as soon as possible,” it added.
A spokeswoman for Dr. Muffazal Lakdawala, who is leading Abd El Aty’s treatment, said the 37-year-old Egyptian’s weight had been brought under 400 kilograms since she arrived in Mumbai in early February.
“Eman has lost over 100 kilograms and has been shedding weight gradually on a daily basis with all the treatment and support,” she told AFP.
The Egyptian is still believed to be the world’s heaviest woman ahead of American Pauline Potter who the Guinness Book of World Records recorded at 293 kilos in July last year.
Abd El Aty, who is from the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, was flown to India’s commercial capital in a specially modified Airbus on Saturday 11 February for treatment.
Her sister had approached Lakdawala, a specialist weight-loss surgeon, in October, saying Abd El Aty needed urgent medical attention.
Her family told the doctor that as a child she was diagnosed with elephantiasis, a condition that causes the limbs and other body parts to swell, leaving her almost immobile.
Abd El Aty has suffered a stroke and faced a series of other serious ailments owing to her weight including diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension and sleep deprivation.
Her request for an Indian visa was initially denied, but she was granted passage after tweeting a plea for help directly to India’s foreign minister, who intervened.
Abd El Aty had a long wait as no airlines were willing to fly her due to her health complications.
Lakdawala’s team put her on a special liquid diet when she arrived in India to get her weight down to a low enough level for them to be able to operate.
They say she is now able to sit up and is expected to spend several months being monitored and receiving physiotherapy to exercise her muscles before returning to Egypt.
Bariatric surgery is a stomach-shrinking bypass procedure carried out on those wanting to lose excessive weight.
It is increasingly common in India, which has a growing problem with obesity, particularly in urban areas.
India is a major destination for medical tourists seeking quality services and no waiting lists at a fraction of the cost of western countries.
’World’s heaviest woman’ loses 100 kg after surgery in India
’World’s heaviest woman’ loses 100 kg after surgery in India
Japan’s beloved last pandas leave for China as ties fray
TOKYO: Two popular pandas are set to leave Tokyo for China Tuesday, leaving Japan without any of the beloved bears for the first time in 50 years as ties between the Asian neighbors fray.
Panda twins Lei Lei and Xiao Xiao are due to be transported by truck out of Ueno Zoological Gardens, their birthplace, disappointing many Japanese fans who have grown attached to the furry four-year-olds.
“Although I can’t see them, I came to share the same air with them and to say, ‘Hope you’ll be OK,’” one woman visiting the zoo told public broadcaster NHK.
The pandas’ abrupt return was announced last month during a diplomatic spat that began when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hinted that Tokyo could intervene militarily in the event of an attack on Taiwan.
Her comment provoked the ire of Beijing, which regards the island as its own territory.
The distinctive black-and-white animals, loaned out as part of China’s “panda diplomacy,” have symbolized friendship between Beijing and Tokyo since they normalized diplomatic ties in 1972.
Their repatriation comes a month before their loan period expires in February, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which operates Ueno Zoo.
Japan has reportedly been seeking the loan of a new pair of pandas.
However, a weekend poll by the liberal Asahi Shimbun newspaper showed that 70 percent of those surveyed do not think the government should negotiate with China on the lease of new pandas, while 26 percent would like them to.
On Sunday, Ueno Zoo invited some 4,400 lucky winners of an online lottery to see the pandas for the last time.
Passionate fans without tickets still turned out at the park, sporting panda-themed shirts, bags and dolls to demonstrate their love of the animals.
China has discouraged its nationals from traveling to Japan, citing deteriorating public security and criminal acts against Chinese nationals in the country.
Beijing is reportedly also choking off exports to Japan of rare-earth products crucial for making everything from electric cars to missiles.
However, China routinely removes pandas from foreign countries and the latest move may not be politically motivated, said Masaki Ienaga, a professor at Tokyo Woman’s Christian University and an expert in East Asian international relations.
“If you talk about (Chinese) politics, the timing of sending pandas is what counts,” and pandas could return to Japan if bilateral ties warm, he said.
Other countries use animals as tools of diplomacy, including Thailand with its elephants and Australia with its koalas, he added.
“But pandas are special,” he said. “They have strong customer-drawing power, and... they can earn money.”
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