Weight-loss surgery is
very effective for losing a lot of weight and improving or even reversing health
conditions like diabetes, but as its name implies, it is surgery. Wouldn’t it
be nice to get its benefits without having to undergo as serious or invasive a
procedure?
Two weight-loss
techniques being performed in other countries — gastric stimulation and stomach
balloon — promise the benefits of weight-loss surgery without the complications
of an operation. But before you hop on a plane to have one done, studies show
these alternative approaches may not provide the solution you’re hoping for.
Weight-Loss Surgery
Alternatives: Do They Work?
These procedures are
less invasive than the two most common weight-loss surgeries — gastric bypass surgery
and adjustable gastric band surgery — but studies haven’t found that they’re
very effective, says Thomas H. Magnuson, MD, director of the Johns Hopkins
Center for Bariatric Surgery in Baltimore.
What’s more, the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration hasn’t approved either of the procedures, so you
can’t get them in the United States unless they’re being done as part of an
investigational study, Dr. Magnuson says.
Here’s an overview of
what they are and what risks they may carry.
Weight-Loss Surgery
Alternatives: Implantable Gastric Stimulation
This procedure
involves putting electrodes or a pacemaker on the stomach wall and using
electrical impulses to induce the sensation of feeling full. However, results
haven’t shown it to be any more effective than just cutting calories from yourdiet.
In one recent study of
190 patients, researchers implanted the gastric stimulator in all the patients,
but only turned it on in half of them. At the same time, each participant cut
500 calories from his or her diet and met with a support group every month.
After 12 months both groups lost about 12 percent of their extra weight.
“In general, most
studies have shown that it doesn’t cause near enough weight loss" compared
to the high success rate of weight-loss surgery, Magnuson says.
Weight-Loss Surgery
Alternatives: The Intragastric Balloon
In this technique, an
intragastric, or stomach, balloon, is placed in your stomach with an endoscope,
a medical tube inserted through the mouth, and is then filled with salt water
or air. The inflated balloon creates a feeling of fullness — it takes less food
to satisfy you and consequently you lose weight. The balloon can stay in place
for six months, but then must be removed because stomach acid can corrode and
deflate it.
“It used to be popular
in the 1970s and has lost favor,” Magnuson says. “There are certainly potential
side effects or complications.” For one, nausea and vomiting may occur for a
few days after the balloon is inserted; ulcers and even a case ofpancreatitis have been reported. By far the most serious
complication is that the balloon can deflate before being removed and there’s a
risk that it can become trapped in the bowel and need to be removed surgically,
or lead to fatal consequences if it’s not. However, experts say that the
balloons used in today’s procedures are safer and carry less risk of severe
complications than those used 20 years ago.
But, even when it’s
inserted and removed safely, it doesn’t look to be effective for long-term weight loss, Magnuson says. “So far, we haven’t found anything
that results in the same reversal of obesity-related medical problems"
that weight-loss surgery such as the gastric bypass and adjustable gastric band
offer, Magnuson adds.
Weight-Loss Surgery
Alternatives: What’s Next?
Doctors are still
looking for less invasive ways to get the results of weight-loss surgery. One possibility to help people lose
weight, Magnuson says, is a pill that works on hormones in the stomach that
control appetite. A magic pill for weight loss? Now that’s something everyone’s
been waiting for.