Thaindian News

Gurgaon, Dec 27 (IANS) A 22-year-old woman suffering from a rare hormonal disorder - Cushing’s syndrome - was successfully treated at the Artemis Health Institute (AHI), a doctor here said Tuesday.

Mary Anne Mabolaji from Nigeria, who started to gain weight abnormally, found it difficult even to perform daily chores. When admitted to the AHI hospital, she weighed 118 kg and suffered from high blood pressure and muscular pains. She underwent surgery on Dec 13 by a team of doctors.

According to doctors, there are not many reported cases of Cushing’s syndrome and the prevalence is as low as six cases per one million people.

The syndrome is a rare, hormonal disorder in which high levels of cortisol (commonly known as the ’stress hormone’) in blood sugar and tumours in the adrenal gland lead to uncontrolled bloating in the patient.

“As far as Mary’s condition is concerned, a tumor as small as 20 grams is responsible for a 70-80 kg weight gain and brings with it many related ailments like joint pains and hair loss,” Kapil Kochhar, consultant, minimally invasive and bariatric surgery, at AHI said.

A team of doctors conducted a four-hour long complex surgery in which the right adrenal gland was removed through a laparoscopic procedure. The tumor was identified as benign, which doesn’t come back or spread to other parts of the body.

“Within eight hours of the surgery, she started to move around and felt relief from aches and pains. After a week, there has been rapid improvement in her skin striae (stretch marks) with significant weight loss,” Kochhar said.

Kochhar also said over the next 8 to 12 months, Mary will lose 50 percent of all the excess weight.