Healthcare

As millions around the world set New Year’s resolutions aimed at improving their health, a Mayo Clinic expert is urging a broader understanding of obesity as a complex, chronic disease that often requires more than lifestyle changes alone.

According to the World Health Organization, one in eight people globally was living with obesity in 2022. The challenge is particularly significant in the Middle East, where adult obesity rates are projected to approach 40 per cent by 2030, based on estimates from the World Obesity Federation.

Dr. Omar Ghanem, Mayo Clinic medical director for the Middle East and chair of Metabolic and Abdominal Wall Reconstructive Surgery at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said the beginning of the year can serve as an important moment for reflection and education around available treatment options.

“Obesity is a complex disease, not a personal failure,” Dr. Ghanem said. “Many people try diets, exercise programmes and medications but continue to struggle because obesity has psychological, metabolic, behavioural and genetic drivers. That complexity requires a comprehensive treatment approach.”

Challenging obesity stigma

Despite its growing prevalence, obesity remains widely misunderstood. Individuals living with obesity often face stigma, including assumptions that weight is solely a matter of willpower. Research has shown that such stigma can discourage people from seeking medical care and undermine trust in healthcare providers.

A study published in The Lancet’s eClinicalMedicine found that weight stigma contributes to delayed care, avoidance of healthcare services and reduced access to evidence-based treatment, ultimately worsening health outcomes.

Metabolic surgery and long-term health benefits

Clinical studies have shown metabolic surgery to be one of the most effective and durable treatments for severe obesity. Patients typically experience 25 to 30 per cent total body weight loss, with results often sustained over many years. Beyond weight reduction, surgery can significantly improve or resolve conditions such as type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

“For many patients, surgery is the turning point,” Dr. Ghanem said. “Some no longer need diabetes or blood pressure medication shortly after surgery. It can be truly life-changing.”

Enabling access to other critical treatments

At Mayo Clinic, metabolic surgery is also used to help patients qualify for other essential procedures that would otherwise be unsafe due to obesity, including organ transplants, joint replacements and complex hernia repairs.

“These cases involve close collaboration among multiple specialties,” Dr. Ghanem explained. “Multidisciplinary care allows patients to access treatments they were previously told were not possible.”

The institution also provides corrective bariatric procedures for patients experiencing complications from surgeries performed elsewhere, such as ulcers, hernias, malnutrition or weight regain.

Advancing obesity care

Obesity treatment continues to evolve, with growing interest in combining anti-obesity medications and surgical interventions. Dr. Ghanem compared this integrated approach to cancer care, where medications and surgery work together to improve outcomes.

Mayo Clinic research has also indicated that bariatric surgery may reduce long-term cancer risk and, in select cases, can be performed simultaneously with liver transplantation, improving survival rates.

Mayo Clinic’s regional presence

Mayo Clinic is marking five years of operations in Dubai, where its regional office supports patients from across the Middle East with medical record reviews, appointment coordination, travel arrangements and language services at no cost.

“Our goal is to ensure people across the Middle East can access world-class care when they need it,” Dr. Ghanem said.

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