I have been doing “research, research, research”, like everybody tells me to do, and I came across this article about a study at John Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Are they saying just singeing a vein going to the stomach may have the same effect as WLS?  If true, this would be huge, wouldn’t it?  What’s your opinion on this?  Is it true?  Is it a bunch of BS? IDK

Do you think I should try it (after discussion with medical professionals), since I don’t have insurance coverage for the revision I want?

 

Science News

Share   Blog   Cite Print   Bookmark   Email

Researchers Suppress 'Hunger Hormone' In Pigs: New Minimally Invasive Method Yields Result As Good As Bariatric Surgery

ScienceDaily (Sep. 18, 2008) — Johns Hopkins scientists report success in significantly suppressing levels of the "hunger hormone" ghrelin in pigs using a minimally invasive means of chemically vaporizing the main vessel carrying blood to the top section, or fundus, of the stomach. An estimated 90 percent of the body's ghrelin originates in the fundus, which can't make the hormone without a good blood supply.

---

See Also: Health & Medicine

• Obesity
• Heart Disease

Mind & Brain

• Stroke
• Nutrition Research

Plants & Animals

• Animals
• Mammals

Reference

• Appetite
• Minimally invasive procedure
• Interventional radiology
• Robotic surgery

"With gastric artery chemical embolization, called GACE, there's no major surgery," says Aravind Arepally, M.D., clinical director of the Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design and associate professor of radiology and surgery at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine. "In our study in pigs, this procedure produced an effect similar to bariatric surgery by suppressing ghrelin levels and subsequently lowering appetite."

Reporting on the research in the September 16 online edition of Radiology, Arepally and his team note that for more than a decade, efforts to safely and easily suppress grehlin have met with very limited success.

Bariatric surgery - involving the removal, reconstruction or bypass of part of the stomach or bowel - is effective in suppressing appetite and leading to significant weight loss, but carries substantial surgical risks and complications. "Obesity is the biggest biomedical problem in the country, and a minimally invasive alternative would make an enormous difference in choices and outcomes for obese people," Arepally says.

Arepally and colleagues conducted their study over the course of four weeks using 10 healthy, growing pigs; after an overnight fast, the animals were weighed and blood samples were taken to measure baseline ghrelin levels. Pigs were the best option, he says, because of their human-like anatomy and physiology.

Using X-ray for guidance, members of the research team threaded a thin tube up through a large blood vessel near the pigs' groins and then into the gastric arteries supplying blood to the stomachs. There, they administered one-time injections of saline in the left gastric arteries of five control pigs, and in the other five, one-time injections of sodium morrhuate, a chemical that destroys the blood vessels.

The team then sampled the pigs' blood for one month to monitor ghrelin values. The levels of the hormone in GACE-treated pigs were suppressed up to 60 percent from baseline.

"Appetite is complicated because it involves both the mind and body," Arepally says. "Ghrelin fluctuates throughout the day, responding to all kinds of emotional and physiological scenarios. But even if the brain says "produce more ghrelin," GACE physically prevents the stomach from making the hunger hormone."

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Authors on the paper are Brad P. Barnett, Tarek T. Patel, Valerie Howland, Racy C. Boston, Dara L. Kraitchman, Ashkan A. Malayeri, and Arepally, all of Hopkins.

Email or share this story: | More

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Arepally et al. Catheter-directed Gastric Artery Chemical Embolization Suppresses Systemic Ghrelin Levels in Porcine Model. Radiology, 2008; 249 (1): 127 DOI: 10.1148/radiol.2491071232

Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the following formats: APA

MLA Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions (2008, September 18). Researchers Suppress 'Hunger Hormone' In Pigs: New Minimally Invasive Method Yields Result As Good As Bariatric Surgery. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 10, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2008/09/080916100946.htm

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

enlarge
In a study in pigs, a procedure known as gastric artery chemical embolization produced an effect similar to bariatric surgery by suppressing ghrelin levels and subsequently lowering appetite, researchers report. (Credit: iStockphoto/Brendan Hunter)

 

Edited for typo.

That's all well and good, but how long do you want to wait before doing a change? This reports an animal study. That's no guarantee it will ever come to human trials. Even if it DOES come to human trials, then we have to wait for results and for the study to come out. IF the results are favorable, it MIGHT be offered to select patients in a clinical setting. It will NOT be covered by insurance.

As for me, I am not interested in participating in any such study or in being one of the first patients to have something new done on me....Except MAYBE in a situation where I was truly dying and out of other treatment options anyway. There are time tested options for your revision. I would use one of those, and of course you know which one :-).

"of course you know which one :-)"

Yep, I know what you're saying:  that I should stay with my band, because it has proven, real, lasting weight loss results. 

 

 

 

 

LAP-BAND^® System Results

Thousands of patients. Millions of pounds. Real, lasting weight loss results.

There are two main ways people try to lose weight — the fast way, and the healthy way. Of course, the fast way may seem a dream come true. But like your dreams at night, this kind of weight loss doesn’t last. Using the LAP-BAND^® System, thousands of people have safely and effectively achieved healthy, lasting weight loss. In fact, a clinical study (N=100) showed that LAP-BAND^® System patients averaged up to a 59% reduction in excess weight after eight years.^1† And, another study showed that after the first year, 94.1% of patients were satisfied with the LAP-BAND AP^® System (N=272).^2‡

What you can expect

The LAP-BAND^® System is powerful tool that can give you control and help you lose weight. However, it’s also important to set realistic achievable weight loss goals from the start. Although weight loss of up to three pounds a week is possible, LAP-BAND^® System patients generally average a healthy one-to-two pound reduction a week.³ Best of all, once patients meet their target weight, they often maintain it for years.

Slow and steady = healthy and lasting

In addition to being temporary, losing weight too quickly can create health risks and lead to other problems. With the LAP-BAND^® System, the main goal is gradual, steady, and lasting weight loss that may prevent, improve, or resolve health problems associated with severe obesity.^1,4,5

With LAP-BAND^® you will lose less lean muscle mass and bone mass than with gastric bypass.^6,7 This means that most of your weight loss after LAP-BAND^® surgery is due to excess fat loss and that you will maintain more of the lean muscle mass you need to keep your metabolism working effectively which will help you to reach and maintain your weight loss goal. There is less risk of excessive bone loss leading to bone disease such as osteoporosis than with gastric bypass.^6,7 Gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy patients often need to take supplements to offset higher levels of lean muscle mass and bone density loss.

Proven Results

In an ongoing study (N=500), the LAP-BAND^® System was shown to provide significant reductions in weight. After 12 months (N=276)⁸:

• The mean Excess Weight Loss (EWL) was 47.5%^†
• The mean reduction in Body Mass Index (BMI) was 8.9 points^†
• At 12 months there was no sign of weight regain or hitting a plateau (weight loss leveling off)

In separate studies each evaluating one obesity-related health condition, weight loss with the LAP-BAND^® System was shown to help improve and resolve conditions such as asthma (93%; N=32), Type 2 diabetes (90%; N=50), sleep apnea (93%; N=123), gastroesophageal reflux (90%; N=48), and hypertension (79%; N=34).^9-12§

In an international study (N=272) reviewing long-term results of multiple studies over a 5-year period, LAP-BAND^® System patients lost 55% of their excess weight.^1,12†

In a separate study (N=276), comparable weight loss results (43% EWL) with the Realize^™ Band were shown after three years.¹⁴

For those with a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 30 and 40, a new study (N=149) shows that the LAP-BAND^® System provides significant results.¹⁵

In the first 12 months (N=143):

• The mean Excess Weight Loss (EWL) was 64.5%
• The mean reduction in Body Mass Index (BMI) was 6.5 points
• The mean reduction in waist circumference (in inches) for men was 6.1 inches; women 5.9 inches
• Weight loss was maintained at year 2

‡ Patient satisfaction data was collected during the APEX study, an observational study that used a global questionnaire to ask patients it they were: very satisfied, satisfied, indifferent, or dissatisfied with their LAP-BAND AP^® experience. 84.1% of patients completed the questionnaire at their 48 week follow-up visit (272/323). Allergan data on File; October 2009.

†The LAP-BAND^® System was approved in the United States on the basis of a nonrandomized, single-arm study (N=299). Significant improvement in percent of excess weight loss vs. baseline was achieved at 12 months (34.5%), 24 months (37.8%), and 36 months (36.2%). The mean reduction in BMI was 8.5 at 12 months, 9.4 at 24 months and 8.8 at 36 months.¹³

§Based on 4 studies. Asthma (N=32; resolved: 34%; improved 59%); Type 2 diabetes (N=50; resolved: 64%; improved 26%); sleep apnea (N=123; resolved: 93%); gastroesophageal reflux (N=48; resolved: 76%; improved: 14%); hypertension (N=34; resolved: 44%; improved: 35%).^9-12

Weight loss with the LAP-BAND^® System is comparable to standard gastric bypass at 3 years and beyond¹

 

 

This post is an obvious jest to my friend, and no offense is meant towards anybody of any surgery type.  I am supportive and happy for anybody that is able to overcome obesity regardless of how they are able to do it.

... except meth, because that's not good for you.

 

 

 

Sounds awesome...but I think they are just working on animals with this one so far...looks like it is still in the research phase.

If we think about it, it probably could be really awesome.  It seems like something that, if safe of course, might be able to be used in conjunction with other WLS to enhance it or make it more effective in the long run.  It just seems like it might be a good augmentation to current procedures, once it is approved and vetted.  Who knows, maybe it is something we will see in the future, but it may still be a ways away.

 

Oh gosh, sooooo experimental.  NONONO.  You'll be hard pressed to find someone to do it, and if you DO, they would be a crackpot.

Now that we're past that.  I'll address the study.  They used 10 pigs...that's it.  Not a large study.  Ghrelin is not the only thing that makes us fat. It's such a complicated social, mental, physical issue with many facets.  So, I don't even think it'll work.  If you read the study (they included a link in their references), you'll find that the pigs did not even lose weight.  In fact, they gained, though at a lower rate than the control piggies, because they did this surgery on piggies that were not yet full grown.  So maybe, find a time machine and have it done on your 10-year old self and prevent you from getting obese in the first place?  Lol...if only.

If you're going to pay for something, pay for something that has been studied and has good results.

I think that one of the most important parts of WLS is making the stomach smaller.  As large people we tend to eat even when we are not hungry and when we do eat, we overeat.  Reducing stomach capacity is a major key to making WLS work.  Lets face it there have been many efforts to reduce hunger medically (ie. prescription and non-prescription meds).  What's the result, more and more people are still overweight.  While I think the researchers at Johns Hopkins may be onto something, this may be only the first step of perhaps a new procedure or an addition to other procedures.  So I'm in agreement with Kara--I dont think this will work on its own!