After helping the world’s heaviest woman, Eman Ahmed from Egypt to cut down her weight of almost 500 kg by half in two months, Dr Muffazal Lakdawala plans to help three siblings-children who appear to have a genetic mutation like Eman, that’s making them morbidly obese. The kids are from a Gujarat village.

Yogita Nandwana, 7 years old, weighs 45 kg while 5 year old Anisha is heavier at 68 kg. Harsh, their three year old brother already weighs 25 kg. It’s said that the three kids could together eat enough food in a week that would suffice for two families of four for a month. Since the kids’ parents are poor, the rest of the village helps to feed the children.

Gene mutation

As per Dr Lakdawala, a gene mutation, like in the case of Eman, is responsible for the severe obesity in the children.

A genetic marker test conducted in Gujarat revealed the cause of the Nandwana siblings’ obesity- mutation in the leptin receptor protein(LEPR) gene.

At present, there exists no treatment for the condition. However, a drug-MC$R Agonist could help the kids. The drug is available only through a US pharma company. “The drug has been tested on three pediatric patients. We are trying to convince US officials to conduct the trial in India,” said Dr Lakdawala to the Hindustan Times.

The doctor added that the scheduled meeting with the officials of the US company is on April 20.

“The village is so small we can’t even get one kilogram of sugar at a time. There is not much work here but I work as a labourer and my wife works on a farm,” said Ramesh, the children’s father.

The couple earns around Rs.5,000 a month- hardly enough for even the kids’ food expenses-between Rs.6,000 and Rs.7,000 each month.

“The entire village helps us to feed the children. Some give us rotis while others help out with gravy,” said Ramesh.

Every day, the kids consume over 30 rotis and over a kilo of vegetables. This is in addition to milk worth Rs 100. They also require wafers, biscuits and other snacks every half an hour so that they wouldn’t become cranky.

The family who is in Gujarat’s Vajdi village is waiting for a response from the hospital, keeping their fingers crossed. Meanwhile, the kids’ parents- Ramesh and Pradnya work tirelessly to make sure that the children don’t go hungry.

“Earlier they would cry and howl if they didn’t get food. But two years ago they were admitted to Ahmedabad civil hospital for 20 days. The food and the injections they received caused them to despise their hospital stay. Now they don’t cry for food, fearing they will be sent back to the hospital, but they are still hungry all the time,” Ramesh said.

Earlier treatment

The first doctor to treat the children was Dr Akshay Mndviya of the Mandviya Children’s Hospital in Gujarat. The doctor suspects that the kids have the genetic disorder, Prader-Willi syndrome(PWS)- a condition which affects multiple body parts and which causes obesity and Type-2 diabetes.

“We really don’t have the resources to diagnose the children but they used to come to us with other ailments such as pneumonia or fever. They could be treated if there was something wrong with their hormone levels but if it’s a genetic problem, nothing much can be done,” said Dr Mandviya.

Once the local media reported the family’s plight, the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital offered to treat the children.

But as per Dr K M Maheria, head of paediatrics at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, even they were unable to diagnose the problem. . “We don’t have an endocrinologist but we did put the children on a diet. We saw a slight weight reduction but we couldn’t provide any specific treatment,” said Dr Maheria.

It’s said that the doctor has already spoken with Dr Lakdawala about the kids’ condition.

According to Ramesh, taking the kids to a hospital when nothing was medically wrong with them wasn’t sensible. “I thought it was better to focus on working and earning enough to feed them. They need a diet of fruit juices and salads but we can’t afford it,” he said.

Image credits: hindustantimes.com

   Send article as PDF