New Weight-Loss Device to Be Tested
 

Has anyone heard about this? Mez

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Portland has been chosen as one of three nationwide sites where doctors will begin testing new weight-loss surgery technology designed to reduce weight without dramatic changes to digestive systems.

By this December, doctors at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital & Medical Center plan to begin implanting a pacemaker-like device in six to eight test patients. The device will fire electronic pulses through tiny wires leading to the stomach wall.

The hoped-for result is that the body will be tricked into feeling full after eating a small amount of food, followed by gradual weight loss.

Obese patients fed up with diets that don't produce lasting results are increasingly turning to weight-loss surgery for help. The most common forms of the surgery rearrange the body's anatomy, either by stapling parts of the stomach or changing the pathway for digestion.

The method that will be tested in Portland, ``leaves the stomach as is,'' said Dr. Emma Patterson, the director of Legacy's Obesity Institute who will implant the Tantalus in Portland-area patients. ``That's the appealing part of it.''

The device will also be tested in Los Angeles and Cleveland.

If tests prove successful, MetaCure, the device's Dutch maker, plans to ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval to conduct a longer-term study.

A Tantalus patient manual cautions that surgically implanting the device may cause infection, perforations of the stomach or bowel, or other complications. It also notes a small risk of death.

Tantalus tests have shown complication-free results so far, said Walid Haddad, the manager overseeing MetaCure's obesity project.

I guess that's great if it works. However I have my doubts. I don't know about others but I eat because (Fill in the blank). It never was because I felt hungry and I did not stop when I felt full. So I guess there are some this will work for but I think the majority of really heavy people like myself it has to be in the mind not the stomach.

I agree Howie, as I was reading this article I was thinking "do they think all we need is something to make us full?" From my personal experiences and reading the stories of others, we as a whole tend to suffer from a lot of emotional issues. Sure there are medical reasons for our weight gain, but not always. Personally, I do blame genetics to a part (2 overweight parents doesn't help me) and medical reasons (PCOS) but I think that only got me so far. Meaning I think maybe I would've weighed 250 at my highest if it was just medical reasons against me. I did the rest, I ate the unhealthy food, I would eat half a package of oreos or half a thing of ice cream or half a loaf of french bread all on my own. It wasn't hunger affecting me, it was my own need to be fulfilled and overfilled.

I agree Nelie, I'm surprised when i am hungry.
I eat cause I'm : bored, worried, angry, happy,watching TV, sad, tired, to keep awake, etc.
Doesn't sound like it's worth the risk to me to have the surgery.

I agree too ~ My dad reads about different stuff like that and tells me about it ~ trying to help me. I tried to tell him that the eating seldom has to do with hunger. Like Howie said ~ I eat because ~ fill in the blank. And sometimes I feel like some kind of drug addict ~ like I need a fix ~ it feels that desperate. It is how I cope with situations I guess ~ not a good thing, but there it is. And it doesn't matter that I know I am hurting myself, somehow I just can't seem to stop myself. Like I have gone and coped the wrong way before I even realize it. My dr once told me that I "medicate" myself with food. He hit the nail on the head.

Ditto