Losing weght has always been a struggle for those who hate exercise. Well, now with the advancement of science, there might be a solution to that. There is a new type of stomach-filling balloon that can apparently help people drop pounds, and it doesn't require the patients to have any surgery to place it, researchers reported Thursday.
The patient can just swallow the deflated balloon, and doctors will use a narrow catheter to fill it with water. With the balloon in place, it will make it harder to overeat, therefore slowly shedding some pounds off.
A study presented at the Obesity Week meeting in Los Angeles reveals the "balloon pill" works at little bit like other stomach balloons to help people lose weight. Dr. John Morton, chief of bariatric surgery at Stanford University and president of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery described it as a balloon a patient swallows, much like a large pill.
He then told NBC News that the balloon gets inflated with a very thin catheter and the about half a liter of fluid goes into that balloon.
The unique feature about this Elipse balloon is that it also has the ability to dissolve and be passed out on its own without any further intervention, Morton added.
After four months, 34 patients who tried out the balloon lost an average of 22 pounds, or 37 percent of their excess weight. Their cholesterol and blood sugar levels also showed improvement, something that usually happens when people have shed a little weight. As with other gastric balloons, the most common unfavorable effects reported were nausea and vomiting.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved two other gastric balloons this year: one known as Orbera and one called ReShape. They are intended for people who are medically obese; meaning these people has 30 or more for their body mass index (BMI), who have been unable to lose weight through diet and exercise.
Both those devices must be inserted using an endoscope, a procedure where a probe is inserted in your mouth so the balloon can reach your stomach and vice versa. This procedure also requires sedation which concerns patients.
