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Teen with insatiable appetite undergoes weight-loss surgery

Sixteen-year-old Anand Marole finally seems to be on his way to live life like a normal teenager.

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Sixteen-year-old Anand Marole finally seems to be on his way to live life like a normal teenager.

Suffering from a rare genetic disorder — Prader-Willi Syndrome — and weighing 113kg, the youngster underwent a bariatric surgery. He has managed to shed 29kg already.

The condition which makes an individual have an insatiable appetite had prevented Anand from appearing for his Std X board exams. The Chembur boy used to eat, particularly junk food, too frequently, developing morbid obesity, which led to reduction and restriction in physical activity.

In December 2014, he was down with severe pneumonia. His condition became so serious that he had to be admitted in hospital and put on ventilator for nine days. After recovering and coming home, he landed up in another problem, wherein his body swelled up. His family then decided to approach a bariatric surgeon.

After meeting Dr Shashank Shah, bariatric surgeon at Fortis hospital, Anand's treatment was started. On February 18, doctors performed the gastric bypass surgery on him. The procedure involves reducing the size of stomach and length of the small intestine. This reduces food intake, leading to weight loss.

"Now, his weight is around 82kg. Before surgery, he used to eat a lot, he couldn't control his hunger. But now, things are in control; he has small portions of meals and a glass of juice, doesn't ask for anything more," said Anand's elder brother Dheeraj, who is a physiotherapist.

According to Mayo Clinic, Prader-Willi Syndrome is caused by an error in one or more genes. Although the exact genes responsible for the condition haven't been identified, the problem lies in a particular region of chromosome 15.

Shah said, "Such cases are rare. At times, we can give patients the choice of losing weight through diet control, but in this case surgery was the only way forward. We did a genetic profile after recording the boy's medical history, and then decided to operate on him."

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