She was risking her life for the sake of losing weight quickly.

Emine Özlü, a 45-year-old woman working as a cook in a zinc oxide factory in the Bor district of Niğde, sought a solution in weight loss teas to get rid of her excess weight.

SURVIVED THROUGH ORGAN TRANSPLANT

The woman, who went to the hospital in August with complaints of fainting, was referred to Ankara Etlik City Hospital when her blood values turned out to be very high. Tests conducted there diagnosed Özlü with liver failure. It was learned that Özlü had been drinking two cups of weight loss tea daily for more than a month to lose weight quickly. The woman's condition rapidly deteriorated, and she was placed on the emergency organ transplant list. Within an hour, a suitable donor was found from Konya, and Özlü survived through a liver transplant from a cadaver.

"I DRANK TWO CUPS A DAY TO LOSE WEIGHT QUICKLY"

Özlü, who said she started drinking weight loss tea on the advice of a friend when she reached 80 kilograms, stated, "It said on the package, 'One should be consumed daily.' I thought, 'My intestines are not working, I want to lose weight quickly,' so I drank two cups a day. Then I felt bad and went to the hospital. The hospital sent me directly to Ankara. I was in intensive care for 7 days. After that, I had surgery. I don't remember that process at all," she said.

"I HAD NO IDEA I WAS TRANSPLANTED"

Özlü, who expressed that she regained consciousness at the beginning of September, said, "While I was in intensive care here, my doctors said my liver had completely failed and decided that I needed a liver transplant. A living donor could not be found. A cadaveric donor was found. I was transplanted, but I had no idea I was transplanted. Now I am fine, thank God," she spoke.

"NO ONE SHOULD USE WEIGHT LOSS TEA"

Emine Özlü, who stated that she went through a very difficult process, warned, "No one should use weight loss tea. They should not resort to such things at all. I went through a very bad process. It was very difficult. It has been almost 4 months, and I am still experiencing its difficulties. I thought I could lose weight on my own just based on my friend's advice, but it didn't work. Everyone should seek professional support for weight loss."

"THESE TEAS CAN HARM ALL ORGANS"

Dr. Sinan Yanık, one of Özlü's doctors, stated that the patient developed acute liver damage after using weight loss tea, saying, "When our patient came to us, her liver tests were quite impaired. During our follow-up, the most important indicator of acute liver failure developed in the patient. We evaluated our patient with our organ transplant team and deemed her suitable for transplantation. Unfortunately, the use of these unlicensed, unapproved teas is widespread both worldwide and in our country regarding weight loss. We warn our patients about this; however, there is still a very high rate of usage. Caution is essential. These products can cause serious harm to all organs, not just the liver. These are products that have not been studied, and there are no warnings on them. We need to warn patients about this and avoid the use of these products."

"IT WAS A VERY URGENT SITUATION"

Prof. Dr. Mustafa Özsoy from the Organ Transplant Clinic of Etlik City Hospital stated, "We confirmed the diagnosis of liver failure in our patient and planned that she needed a liver transplant. It was a very urgent situation; we first evaluated the living donor but could not find a suitable living donor. During this process, we made an urgent notification and applied for the first available organ donation in Turkey to be used for our patient. Our application was accepted, and fortunately for our patient, the first available organ came to us just one hour after our application. By the sixth hour of the application, our patient had clung to life with a new liver. Unfortunately, during this period, our patient had used an unapproved medication, weight loss medication, and weight loss teas. During this time, we especially recommend that our patients do not take any medication or medical treatment without approval from the Ministry of Health and other ministries."