Stomach Balloons And Weight Loss

A new and simple way to beat obesity is the Stomach Balloon. It works by being put down the obese persons throat and consists of a silicon balloon filled with a saline solution. It can stay in the stomach for around 6 months and can then be replaced with a fresh balloon. The idea is that the patient is unable to eat much as the balloon takes most of the space. The balloon has been shown to really help people lose weight as it causes an almost permanent feeling of being full.

The balloon has a small amount of methylene blue in the saline solution so that a leak can be detected very quickly. The balloon does not change your shape and is too large to go down into the digestion system. One Italian surgeon who uses the balloon on his patients said that on average a drop of between 30 and 40 pounds is normally recorded over a 6 month period. The weight loss however is not always permanent.

The stomach balloon has not been tested and checked by the FDA yet and long term complications have yet to be studied fully. However with obesity causing much harm to health, people are desperate and are prepared to try anything to lose weight. If more research is done in the USA it is likely to eventually get full FDA approval.

Overall obesity affects nearly 30% of males and 38% of females in the EU and is the cause of many health conditions that can be fatal. The costs of looking after obese people is constantly risingf in the western world. The American Obesity Association that studies surgical obesity treatments said that weight loss normally happens after surgical techniques with only small numbers regaining it.

Italian doctors said that over a million people in Italy could benefit from surgery for obesity. Doctors are keen to show that when obesity reaches certain proportions it become a health and not a cosmetic concern. Some doctors say that obesity could actually reduce life expectancy by 25%.