subject: Could Stomach Balloons Offer Safer Weight Loss? [print this page] The last 30 years have offered the weight loss market a variety ofdifferent surgical procedures for fighting obesity gastric bypasses included. Yet despite the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services directive in 2006 which demanded all Cosmetic Centers to have expert surgeons and equipment, these methods of weight loss surgeries are still very risky.
Even taking into consideration the fact that complication rates have fallen from 12.2% of patients to 10%, and mortality rates have reduced from 0.28% to 0.20% (a 0.08% drop) - these enhancements are small miniscule when you add to the equation the percentage of obese individuals who undergo these procedures ...
Yet, hope could be on the horizon for slimmers if the ReShape's double balloon meets the approval of the Food and Drug Administration.
Created to help slimmers who fall either side of the required guidelines for gastric bypass and laparoscopic gastric band placements surgeries, or who are considered to be too young (under18); the double-balloon device could easily support this excluded niche.
Currently, the dual balloon system is inserted into a patients throat using a tube before being filled with saline. As these 2 balloons are inflated, patients will begin tofeel full and will begin to lose weight.
And, once patients attain their ideal weight loss, this balloon device can easily by deflated and removed from the stomach without risk.
As we speak, this balloon device is scheduled to undergo its first clinical trial at the start of May where 30 patients across 3 centers will be implanted with the balloon. Should it be found to be safe, this clinical trial will be applied to 350 volunteers across 10 cosmetic surgeris and eventually will be to the Food and Drug Administration for approval.
Is the balloon safe?
It is undeniable that this double balloon mechanism could potentially help hundreds of thousands of dieters who are either below age of consent or suffer from diabetes, heart disease and muscle problems to lose weight, however this dual action balloon has got a long way to go before it is deemed safe.
In 1984 a similar single balloon system was established by Garren-Edwards and was implanted into patients. However, with no backup membrane to protect it from punctures, this balloon was prone to leaking and entering into the small intestine where it caused serious blockages. As a result this product was quickly removed the market.
by: Olliee Bachnern
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