Obesity and Metabolic Clinic in Sharjah

What is an obesity and metabolic clinic?

An obesity and metabolic clinic is an ongoing medical service for people whose weight affects their health, where obesity is managed as a chronic condition in the same way as high blood pressure or diabetes. At Dar Al Kamal Hospital, Sharjah, the obesity and metabolic clinic is led by the endocrinology team, which looks at the hormones and metabolism behind weight as well as the weight itself.

The clinic starts from a fact that explains why weight is so hard to shift: the body defends its weight. After weight loss, a hunger hormone made in the stomach rises and the fullness signal sent from fat tissue falls, so appetite grows while the body uses slightly less energy at rest. This is biology rather than willpower, and treatment is planned around it.

The clinic sits alongside two related services. The obesity and metabolic assessment is a one-off internal medicine review of blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure, and weight management is general physician support for everyday lifestyle change. The endocrinology clinic is the step for weight that has resisted earlier efforts, for weight where hormones may be involved, and for anyone considering weight-loss medicine.

Who needs it

The clinic is usually suited to adults with:

• a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, or 27 or more with a weight-related condition; lower cut-offs are often used for people of South Asian and East Asian heritage, who develop metabolic problems at lower weights
• type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, fatty liver or sleep apnoea alongside excess weight
• weight gain with other changes that point to a hormone cause, such as new purple stretch marks, easy bruising and rising blood pressure, or tiredness with constant coldness
• weight gain that followed a new medicine, such as steroid tablets, insulin or some medicines for mood or epilepsy
• an interest in weight-loss surgery, or weight regained after an earlier operation

What happens

The first visit is a detailed conversation about your weight across your life: when it changed, what was happening at the time, what you have already tried and what happened when you stopped. The endocrinology team asks about eating patterns, night-time eating, sleep, stress, periods for women, and every medicine and supplement you take. Weight, height, waist and blood pressure are measured.

Blood tests usually cover HbA1c, cholesterol, liver and kidney function and thyroid function. Tests for cortisol or other hormones are added when your history or examination points that way, so each test has a clear reason.

Your plan then rests on three parts:

1. Nutrition built around your culture, your working hours and the foods you actually eat, with support from nutritional counselling where useful.
2. Activity chosen for your joints, fitness and climate, with an emphasis on keeping muscle while fat is lost.
3. Medicine where your health and BMI make it suitable. Several classes exist, including injectable medicines that copy the appetite hormones released by the gut after a meal. Each is started at a low dose and increased gradually to help the stomach adjust.

Where your weight and health make surgery worth discussing, the team explains the options and arranges a consultation for bariatric surgery. Follow-up visits track weight, waist and blood results together and adjust the plan.

Preparing for it

Bring a full list of your medicines, including supplements, herbal teas and any slimming products bought online. Bring previous blood results and any reports from earlier weight programmes or surgery. A short diary of a normal week, covering meals, snacks, drinks and sleep times, gives the team a realistic starting picture.

Note the points in life when your weight changed, such as a pregnancy, a new job, shift work or moving to the UAE. Ask when booking whether to come fasting for blood tests. If Ramadan is approaching and you take diabetes medicine or plan to start a weight-loss medicine, mention it early so meal timing and doses can be agreed in advance.

Afterwards

Progress in the obesity and metabolic clinic is measured over months. Weight usually falls in stages, with plateaus in between, and the team uses each visit to adjust nutrition, activity or medicine. Improvements in blood sugar, blood pressure, liver tests and sleep are tracked alongside the scales, because these are the changes that protect long-term health.

If you start an injectable medicine, mild nausea is common in the early weeks and after each dose increase. Smaller meals, eating slowly and stopping at the first sense of fullness help. In the Sharjah heat, keep drinking water through the day, since nausea and a smaller appetite can lead to dehydration.

Obesity is a long-term condition, so the clinic plans for keeping weight off as carefully as for losing it.

Contact the hospital if you have repeated vomiting, are unable to keep fluids down, or feel dizzy and very dry while taking a weight-loss medicine. **Go to the emergency department straight away if you develop severe pain in the upper abdomen spreading to the back, or pain under the right ribs with fever or yellowing of the skin.**

Cost and insurance

UAE insurance plans usually cover endocrinology consultations and blood tests when there is a medical reason, such as diabetes, fatty liver or a suspected hormone problem. Weight-loss medicines are commonly excluded, or covered only with pre-approval for specific conditions such as type 2 diabetes. Some plans exclude obesity treatment altogether, and surgery has its own approval criteria. Dar Al Kamal Hospital, Sharjah can help you check your cover on 06 599 7777.