A woman says she lost a significant amount of weight after undergoing a minimally invasive procedure.
In an interview with Good morning America On Thursday, May 9, Brooke Nelson said she has lost 60 pounds since participating in a new clinical trial after previously weighing more than 200 pounds.
“The constant desire for food has decreased drastically,” she told the outlet. “There are still times when I want a chocolate chip cookie, but there are a lot more times when I want something like greens.”
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A woman in a clinic with a doctor — picture.
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dr. Christopher McGowan also spoke with GMA about a procedure called endoscopic ablation, which purportedly targets ghrelin, also known as the “hunger hormone.”
During the procedure, a camera is inserted into the patient’s stomach while the liquid is administered. This helps protect the underlying stomach tissue.
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Next, a small device burns the upper lining of the stomach where ghrelin is produced. The hormone is said to send messages to a person’s brain, signaling that they are hungry. It also inhibits insulin secretion and helps the body store fat.
McGowan, founder of True You Weight Loss in Cary, North Carolina, has tried his technique on 10 patients so far for a clinical trial.
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woman weighing herself on a scale — picture.
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“We have patients who are a year or more after the first procedure, and what we see is that their hunger continues to decrease [and] still report greater control over their diet,” said the gastroenterology specialist GMAadding that trial participants reduced their overall weight by an average of seven percent.
According to McGowan, the procedure could potentially offer patients the opportunity to see significant weight loss without the interruption of surgery or associated risks.
“For patients who may be afraid of surgery, this may be more acceptable,” he said of endoscopic ablation.
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However, this does not mean that the procedure, although less invasive, is completely risk-free.
“The risks of this technology could include things like ulcers, bleeding, injuring the stomach in some way. Those were things we were very careful about,” he told GMA.
“In this case, everything was mild, which was cramping, gas and nausea, things you’d expect when you’re having a stomach procedure. But there were no complications.”
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This is the first time the procedure has been tested on humans.
McGowan will formally present the results of the trial later this month at a medical conference known as Digestive Disease Week in Washington, DC, ABC News reports.
Additional trials will need to be conducted before endoscopic ablation can be approved for the general public.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education