Surgeon at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Anguilla, Dr. Marjorie Yee-Sing, has warned persons on the island to watch the fatty and greasy foods they are eating. “One of the major concerns here in Anguilla is the number of patients that I have seen with gall bladder disease, and that has a direct impact on the amount of operations we are doing for that particular disease as patients are referred to me when they have that disease and I have to do an operation on them,” she stated. The highly-respected Jamaican-born surgeon made the comments in an interview with The Anguillian.

“This is a direct result of the diet that they are having in Anguilla,” she continued. “They are having too much greasy foods mainly foods with cholesterol. You do have a few people who have other causes of gall stone, but by far the diet of the majority of patients is highly-spiced or contains a lot of fats which are the main contributing factors to these gall stones. You find them across the age group from very young to the extreme – about 60-65 years so it is across the board you are seeing this type of disease. If it relates to diet, then something can be done about it. Therefore I would say that too much fried foods, too much fatty and greasy foods, too much ice cream, pizzas etc are contributing factors – fried foods especially, and we can do something about that. If we start educating children in the school about their diet, then this is one disease we should be able to control.”

The surgeon further said: “The other diseases that I see a lot of in Anguilla are diabetes and hypertension and the complications that follow – strokes or kidney disease. Again, it is dietary. If you have a family history of diabetes, then you can avoid certain foods that may pre-dispose you to the disease. The fact that some relative had diabetes doesn’t mean that you are going to necessarily get it so you can adjust and watch your diet carefully. Similarly, the fact that your family member had hypertension doesn’t mean that you are going to get it; and since you know that you are pre-disposed to getting it, there are certain foods that you again avoid to lessen the chances of getting it. So there are other ways you can control this almost epidemic that is in Anguilla. The complications follow and they are usually heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease or probably ending up with the amputation of a limb. But these are things which can be controlled.”

Dr. Yee-Sing has been serving as Surgeon in Anguilla since October 2001. She did her MBBS at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. She went on to England and Scotland where she obtained her Fellowship at the Royal College of Surgeons. Dr. Yee-Sing then returned to Jamaica and did a PhD in Surgery.

“She has a wealth of experience in surgery having been in charge of a 125-bed hospital serving 74,000 people in Port Antonio, Jamaica. “We had to treat all types of diseases whether [by] internal medicine, dermatology, surgery, urology or paediatrics. There was only one specialist and that was the Senior Medical Officer (myself). So you develop a lot of experience and knowledge in treating all types of diseases. Now that I have come to Anguilla it is not unusual for me to see patients with other diseases. I do it because it is one way in which you can help the patients to get through quickly especially in emergencies.”

Next week The Anguillian will publish Dr Yee-Sing’s comments and advice on cancer-related diseases, which are a concern in Anguilla, and the risks involved in over the counter non-traditional drugs.

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