Mumbai: The medical management regimen planned for Eman Ahmed Abdelaty, the world’s heaviest woman, is expected to reduce her 500-kg weight by 80 kg over the next four weeks, doctors at Saifee Hospital said on Monday. They said her treatment has begun, and she has been put on a high-protein, high-fibre diet and dairy supplement diet.

Further course of treatment, whether a weight loss surgery or continuation of the medical management regimen, will be decided after four weeks when her gene test reports will be available.

“There is lot of fluid overload in her system. We want it to come down. Also, we are going to rule out the genetic disorders before we decide on the course of surgery,” said bariatric surgeon Dr. Muffazal Lakdawala, who is treating Ms. Ahmed with a team of over 13 specialists in endocrinology, nephrology, neurology, nutrition, pulmonary medicine, anaesthesia and physiotherapy.

The doctors have initiated a study of the 91 different gene types isolated with obesity-related syndromes, and the reports will take four weeks too.

If a surgery is decided upon, Ms. Ahmed will undergo a sleeve gastrectomy procedure, commonly known as stomach stapling, wherein the stomach’s size is reduced to about 15 per cent. Dr. Lakdawala, however, said her diet is not enormous. “She eats very less, but her metabolism is so low that whatever she eats gets absorbed and pushes her weight up.” He added that Ms. Ahmed suffers from diabetes, hypertension, hypothyroidism, sleep apnea and gout as well. The doctors’ team will first bring these conditions under control, which will help in reducing weight.

At birth, Ms. Ahmed weighed five kgs. She has two sisters but neither is obese. She began putting on weight soon after birth, and by 11, could not walk and had to drag herself on her knees. Teasing at school made her drop out, and eventually, a point came when she could not step out of home at all. This is the first time in 25 years that she was brought out of her house, which involved breaking down the balcony wall of her first-floor home in Alexandria, Egypt.

Ms. Ahmed’s sister, Shaaima, who has accompanied her to Mumbai has been taking care of her for the past several years. “Eman is very happy. She has been thanking everyone who has helped her,” she said.

If Dr. Lakdawala’s treatment plan works out, Ms. Ahmed should have lost at least 200 kg by the time she returns home and is able to sit up and eat on her own. “If all goes as we hope, we are planning a second surgery after two years in which we will bypass the small intestine completely,” he said.