A plastic surgeon has issued a warning to those taking weight loss injections. According to the doctor, people who take the jabs when they undergo surgical procedures are putting their lives at risk unknowingly, and could choke to death.
It is estimated that more than 1.5 million Brits are currently taking weight loss injections, and the number may soon increase since the Government has now permitted GPs to prescribe them. Now that the jabs are becoming part of people’s daily routines, a top doctor has warned people that forgetting to tell their doctor they are on the weight loss jab ahead of having a general anaesthetic could be deadly.
Dr Mo Akhavani, a consultant plastic and cosmetic surgeon in London, told Mail Online that around 805 of his patients are on “some sort of jab”, and in his experience with his patients, “maybe one in ten might forget” to inform him that they are taking appetite-suppressing medication.
Patients are usually instructed to avoid eating for at least six hours before surgery to reduce the risk of aspiration pneumonia—a severe lung infection that occurs when food, liquid, or saliva enters the lungs, which is more likely if the stomach isn’t empty.
Dr Akhavani warned that the weight loss jab “causes problems as it delays gastric emptying,” which is the process by which the stomach empties its contents into the small intestine.
According to the surgeon, it is “very well recognised in the medical world” that patients should come off the jab two weeks or longer before a surgery.
Researchers in California found that the weight loss treatments can heighten the risk of the surgical complication, which is “choking to death” by 33%.
Now, Dr. Akhavani is pleading with people that if they are on the jabs, “please, please, please don’t forget to let your doctors know.”
He added that in his experience, it is not a case of people attempting to hide that they are on the treatment but rather that they “genuinely forget” because the jab is now a “routine part of their life”.
Weight loss jabs have been discovered to help people lose up to 20% of their body weight in just months. However, there are also reports of side effects, including hair loss, constipation and bloating, that come after getting the jabs.
Official NHS guidelines note that patients with a body mass index (BMI) of over 35 or 32.5 or more if you’re of Asian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Black African or African-Caribbean origin and at least one weight-related health problem, can be prescribed weight loss injections.
As well as those with a BMI of 30 to 34.9 and who meet the criteria for referral to a specialist weight management service.