The Balloon Pill
I was asked recently about a weight loss method called the balloon pill. I had not heard of this pill before, and I was skeptical, but I decided to check it out.
I did some research and found out that the Obalon weight loss balloon pill was released in the UK just recently. It is already being used in some European countries, but is being studied in the United States. The pill is swallowed and then inflated reducing the volume of the stomach and the amount of food eaten to feel full. There is another weight loss device called the Aspire-assist pump that allows one to empty out the stomach twenty minutes after eating so that the calories digested are reduced by a third.
I do think there is more to weight gain and obesity than excess caloric intake and lack of exercise. There has been one study linking bacteria in the intestinal system to weight gain and obesity. Diabetics tend to have high insulin levels that make it difficult for them to lose weight. There are certain genetic conditions that cause insatiable appetite, such as Prader-Willi syndrome.
I feel that treatments such as the balloon pill, stomach banding, and stomach emptying pump are just bandaids. I think of it as putting a muzzle on someones mouth so they limit calorie intake. They do not address the root cause of the obesity problem. The issue is that we don’t know yet what actually causes some people to gain more weight than others.
I see patients that eat very poorly and exercise very little yet they don’t have a weight problem. It is the same as some people that smoke like a chimney yet don’t suffer from any lung or heart problems. We just don’t know exactly why.
We have to accept the fact that we don’t have the answers to many health problems. We can’t control many things that happen to our bodies. Bandaid medical technologies are not a long term solution. For example, I thought that the stomach banding procedure was going to be a low risk option to gastric bypass surgery only to find that more than half the patients I know who have had the procedure have had to have the band removed.
We do know the following about diet and lifestyle. We know that regular exercise and a healthy diet rich in vegetables, lean protein and complex carbohydrates will help our health. I want you to concentrate your efforts on something that does not involve a bandaid approach when we have tried and true strategies that help to improve your health for the long-term.
The following is a video about the balloon pill. Check it out.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/lose-weight-ballooning-pill/story?id=22867028