A review of a documentary you watch on an English TV Channel
Date: 1st August, 2011
Time: 8:00pm
Title: The Pearl Report – Belly Busters
One in five people in Hong Kong is obese. Fat people take high risks in developing serious chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart problems. It may also lead to premature death. More and more of them are showing a real concern over these problems and are turning to surgery to ensure that they lose weight. In the programme, The Pearl Report – Belly Busters, a few cases were investigated and the patients felt reborn after undergoing the surgery. One of the cases is introduced in the following.
Tso Ka Ming, aged thirty-eight, is the patient of Dr. Mui, who is a weight loss surgeon. Tso had started gaining weight since he was fifteen, and he reached 260 pounds at twenty-five. He once lost weight by exercising, having slimming pills and dieting. However, he could not control his eating habit after about 2 weeks and became overweight again. The bigger the belly he got, the higher the risk of developing deadly diseases he had. Dr Mui asked Tso to have a thorough body check-up. It was measured that his Body Mass Index (BMI) was 40, which was even higher than that of the Westerners. The tests had also shown that he got high blood pressure, high blood fat level, high cholesterol and a fatty liver. Tso decided to undergo the Lap Sleeve gastrectomy, in which 80% of his stomach would be removed, since he had to cure the most pressing problem – Type Two Diabetes. If he neglected his health, he might suddenly collapse on the street without any indications.
Due to the warning sign of his health, Tso took the advice from the surgeon. Tso’s life has been greatly changed after the surgery. Guess what? Just two days later, his blood sugar level plummeted and was back to the normal level. He used to spend more than forty thousand dollars buying insulin and other drugs that regulate blood sugar. Right now? He does not require them anymore! Surgery is the quickest and the most cost-effective way for patients to recover.
Furthermore, as the size of his stomach has been reduced and it is no longer expandable anymore, the amount of food Tso takes is limited. Are you longing to know more about how the quality of his life has been improved? Don’t hesitate. Watch this programme now!
Before watching this documentary, I was wondering why the patients have to undergo weight loss surgery rather than doing the aerobic exercise or taking pills. In this programme, the doctor affirmed that it is impossible for patients to lose weight by non-surgical methods. Overweight people are not able to do much exercise such as jogging because it may lead to the problem of their knees. So surgery is the only way that can guarantee a substantial weight loss.
This programme is absolutely informative and educational It is particularly useful for students taking Biology. Other than providing the latest information about various types of bariatric surgery, the process of the surgery was also shown in this programme. We cannot achieve this kind of medical knowledge from textbooks.
The Pearl Report – Belly Busters is riveting and can surely raise the awareness of the public on this issue. As aforesaid, the problem of obesity in Hong Kong is getting more serious than before. So it is an opportune time for us to take an in-depth look into it.