An experimental new weight loss procedure that ‘silences’ hunger hormones by burning off part of the stomach is said to be a game-changer in obesity treatment.
North Carolina doctors found that the technique, which involves a small cut in the stomach, can help patients lose up to 26 pounds in just six months.
The operation reduces stomach capacity by 42 percent, resulting in a 30 percent drop in hunger pangs.
Experts say that destroying part of the hunger lining limits the body’s production of the hunger hormone ghrelin, helping them lose almost a tenth of their body weight.
Some patients have reported a change in food preferences after the procedure, with cravings for chocolate replaced with a longing for salads and veggies.
It is also less intensive than other surgical weight loss interventions, such as a gastric bypass or a gastric sleeve, and has long-lasting effects unlike blockbuster weight loss drug Ozempic.
Doctors in North Carolina performed the experimental procedure in which a camera is inserted in the stomach, injects the area with fluid to protect tissues, while burning off the top layer of the stomach lining where the hunger hormone is produced
Brooke Nelson was one of 10 people who underwent the minimally-invasive procedure, and said she has lost 26 pounds over six months, bringing her weight to 183 pounds
One patient who went from 209 pounds to 183 in just six months following the procedure also remarked that her food preferences changed.
‘The constant just wanting of food has drastically decreased,’ she said. ‘There’s still moments where I want a chocolate chip cookie but there’s a lot more moments where I find myself wanting something like greens.’
Obesity is a major public health threat in the US, affecting around 40 percent of Americans, for whom it dramatically increasing the risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
Despite new medical treatments such as the injectable drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, doctors say further options are still needed, as these medicines come with side effects and are in scarce supply.
The new procedure, known as endoscopic mucosal ablation, targets the hunger hormone ghrelin, which stimulates appetite, causing some people to over eat.
The experimental technique reduced ghrelin levels in patients by up to 40 percent and saw patients drop 7.7 percent a year after the procedure.
When people lose weight, the body perceives an energy deficit and prompts the reast of hormones like ghrelin to increase appetite and store more food as fat.
Doctors at True You Weight Loss, a clinic based in North Carolina, said ablation begins when the doctors insert a camera into the stomach and inject it with fluid to protect underlying stomach tissues.
They then use a tiny device to ablate—or burn—the mucosal lining of the upper portion of the stomach, known as the gastric fundus, which produces ghrelin.
Dr Christopher McGowan, the founder of True You Weight Loss, told Good Morning America: ‘We do have patients who are a year or more beyond their initial procedure, and what we are seeing is that they continue to have a diminishment, decrease in hunger, continue to report greater control over eating.’
The procedure does not require large incisions or deep penetration into the body, making it a strong, minimally invasive outpatient alternative to gastric sleeve surgery.
In gastric sleeve surgery, a large portion of the stomach is surgically removed, leaving a smaller, sleeve-shaped stomach.
In gastric bypass surgery, doctors create a small pouch at the top of the stomach and connect it directly to the small intestine.
This bypasses a portion of the stomach and the first part of the small intestine (duodenum), limiting the absorption of calories and nutrients.
There currently are no drug options to reduce the hunger hormone ghrelin. The procedure, if made mainstream, would allow people a nonsurgical alternative to gastric sleeve or bypass surgery
Dr Christopher McGowan, the founder of True You Weight Loss in North Carolina, hopes the success of his experimental procedure will result in FDA approval that could help millions of people who can’t get obesity drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy
Brooke Nelson was one of 10 women involved in the trial, and lost 26 pounds. She said the results have been remarkable.
‘The constant just wanting of food has drastically decreased. There’s still moments where I want a chocolate chip cookie but there’s a lot more moments where I find myself wanting something like greens.’
The aim of most weight loss interventions is to reduce appetite, and decreasing stomach capacity means a person must take in much smaller portions.
A sudden craving for healthy foods over sweet treats could be a function of the overall disruption of hormone levels that could change food preferences.
And ghrelin is not the only hunger hormone. Another is GLP-1, the one that Wegovy and Ozemic mimic to suppress appetite. But there currently are no drug treatments that reduce ghrelin.
That the patients maintained weight loss and decreased appetite a full year after the procedure signals a possible benefit over taking Wegovy and Ozempic.
Those drugs are believed to only work as long as a person takes them, with many people who stop taking them after a while report regaining all the weight they lost. Studies into the drugs’ effects long-term, such as whether a person would have to take them indefinitely, are ongoing.
The surgery will need to be repeated in more patients before it can be approved by the FDA as a safe and effective way to treat obesity.
Little is known about long-term safety or whether the procedure would have to be repeated several times to maintain weight loss.
Dr McGowan said: ‘This is just the beginning. The first question was whether we can endoscopically reduce hunger and ghrelin. The answer is: yes, we can.’
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