Volume 25, Issue 112, June 2021

Comparison of the use of herbal and medicinal plants with surgery, drugs and exercise as methods of weight loss in Ha’il region in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Fatimah Aqeel Alali¹, Bayan Hussain Alali¹, Aqeela Zahra², Sadaf Anwar³, Halima Mustafa Elagib^4,5♦

¹College of Medicine, University of Ha’il, Saudi Arabia ²Department of Family and community medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ha'il, Saudi Arabia
³Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, University of Ha’il, Saudi Arabia
⁴Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, University of Ha’il, Saudi Arabia
⁵Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Omdurman Islamic University, Sudan

^♦Corresponding author
Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, University of Ha’il, Saudi Arabia Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Omdurman Islamic University, Sudan

ABSTRACT

Background: Obesity is a common and morbid disease. There are different methods to reduce weight. The most common surgical methods to reduce weight are bariatric surgical procedures which include gastric bypass, adjustable gastric banding and sleeve gastrectomy. Many drugs have been developed for the long-term management of obesity to cause a positive energy balance. Some herbal medicine products are taken as liquids or tea prior to eating, such as chamomile, green tea can assist in reducing weight. Others spices such as ginger help in weight loss. Many researches suggest that exercise is more effective in the prevention of overweight and obesity than its reversal. The aim of this study is to compare the use of surgery, drugs, exercise, and focusing on herbal remedies regarding weight reduction and to help in raising awareness among people to maintain healthy lifestyle. Method: A Cross-sectional study has been done among people in Ha’il, KSA. The data are collected by distributing online questionnaire. Statistical analysis has been done with (SPSS) V 23.0 (Chi-Square Tests considering level of significance P≤ 0.001 and P≤ 0.05). Result: The result of this study showed that a total 552 of participants in Hail, 29 (6.4%) female and 2 (2.2%) male had used herbs to reduce their weight and the most common used herbs were green tea, lemon, ginger and cinnamon respectively. 21 participants (4.6%) of female and 5 (5.6%) of male prefer surgery for weight loss. The 166 (36.4%) of female, while the male 36 (40.4%) make use of exercise to reduce the weight. Also, 3 (0.7%) of female used the drug, while male never used. Conclusion: The study concluded that the most common method used was exercise. The others were herbs, surgery and drugs, respectively.

Keywords: Herbs, Surgery, Drugs, Exercise, Method, Weight

Medical Science, 2021, 25(112), 1301-1310

PDF