Brain Surgery for Weight Loss?
Medical advancements are taking place at a dizzying rate. The new frontier of weight loss procedures is shifting towards tweaking brain function. The latest in this Orwellian concept is a trial-stage procedure whereby a neurosurgeon drills a hole in the brain and uses electricity to control your appetite.
Sweet mother of mercy.
Carol Poe, the second recipient of the deep brain stimulation technique after apparently trying everything from dieting to stomach stapling.
The three-hour surgery involves inserting wires into the brain in the region where the stomach is controlled, which links to two pacemaker devices implanted in the chest.
The voltage is gradually turned up in the months to come - presumably increasing the appetite suppressing function of the brain. Doctors said it would be several months before any weight loss is noticeable while the voltage to the brain is gradually increased.
Poe claims that it has been successful in controlling her cravings and urge to eat.
My Questions/Concerns
The first question that leaps into my head - how long must a patient be "wired"? Is this device supposed to permanently alter the brain to feel full faster or do we need to keep this device in there permanently?
Also, what's the bill for something like this? My guess is that it is no going to be cheap - or covered by most plans.
Of course my default reaction to these procedures is the dejection that we need to go to such extreme measures in the first place. Although this seems less invasive than gastric bypass, I often wonder how much people have "tired" to lose weight via more conventional routes (ie. Eating well and exercising).
That said, I can't speak for the emotional and physical distress of somebody who is that heavy (Poe had weighed up to 490 lbs at 5'2"). I'm sure there is a sense of desperation and despair that seems insurmountable.
I also wonder if they can screen people for abnormalities in this region of the brain to see if there are some true abnormalities that are interfering with satiety.
Regardless of the extent to which this procedure is used, it should under every circumstance be accompanied by nutrition and exercise therapy.
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Ah, c'mon! They wouldn't find any brain abnormalities. These people are just Greedy. And a procedure like this is utterly ridiculous and speaks volumes as to how far we'll go to avoid practicing discipline and restraint in our diet.
So now neurosurgeons have joined the cash gravy train of the diet/weight loss bandwagon. That's just great.
ReplyYour judgemental attitude towards obesity saddens me.
ReplyI die a fat man before I let any doctor drill holes in my head.
ReplyDitto! Same goes for gastric bypass in my mind. Not permanently altering my organs in any way to be skinny.
ReplyI'm not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, eventually science will understand the brain well enough to learn how to control most, if not all, behaviours. This can be a benefit in the case of the criminal mind, or mental illness. And I'm sure finding a way to shut down or change other points in the brain can be good for obesity. But it just seems so invasive and extreme.
ReplyBe careful what you wish for. If we can be manipulated that easy by brain operations, we're all going to be very dull humanoids. Imagine if Van Gogh, Sylvia Plath, Hemingway, etc etc etc. had all been on anti-depressants or lithium, we may not have had their great art. I think unconventionality and quirks are what makes people interesting, though we are getting to be a violent culture. I mostly think it's economics that is doing this, and tv.
Reply"Carol Poe, the second recipient of the deep brain stimulation technique after apparently trying everything from dieting to stomach stapling."
... Exactly, this m0r0n tried everything that DOESN'T work. Stomach stapling? Friggin absurd. How about incurring a proper LIFESTYLE?
I can't stand people who say they've tried "everything". Because that just shows me they are an uncommitted "hopper". And these lame hoppers NEVER see results because they are driven by instant gratification, not discipline and focus.
BLEH!
ReplyI'll do anything to lose weight! Except exercise! Or change my diet. Other than those two things...just name it and I'll do it. I'm serious this time. Really, anything. Anything at all. Except alter my food intake or energy expenditure.
ReplyYou make sarcasm look too easy. ;)
ReplyOh, I've been in sarcasm training for 27 years now. If I ran a minute for every time I said something sarcastic, I would have never gotten over 300 lbs. Maybe I should institute that new rule....
ReplyOH! AND I MEANT TO SAY! I can't stand the "tried everything" people either. I was fat. Okay, more than fat. Really effin obese. I didn't want to be really effin obese anymore. So I did some research. I learned about satiety and exercise and balanced nutrition. Then I implemented it. I'm not where I want to be yet, but I'm down 90 lbs and fitter than I've ever been in my life. Research, pick a path, and do it.
Oh, and for the record, I live in Canada, where weight loss surgery (and surgery to deal with loose skin) is covered completely by health care. I more than met the BMI requirements. I chose NOT to go this path and to instead pay for a trainer (as well as change my eating habits) because I didn't think WLS dealt with the root cause behind the obesity.
ReplyHell YES! You see musajen. THIS is exactly the type of person I was talking about.
Are you gona tell her the same crap? No. Obviously she was more than fat, but then she decided to stop playing victim and viola! 90lbs and a few sarcastic lines later... here she is.
You go girl!
P.S- Im in Canada, I didn't know OHIP covered weight loss surgery?! Learn something new everyday.
ReplyAll I can say is that this is absolutely terrifying. I can't believe anyone in their right mind (pun intended) would consider going through with this!
ReplyI think they should cure OCD next.
ReplyI suppose there are some people that "MIGHT" have something going on in the brain to cause this BUT I still could never envision drilling into my brain over weight! Yes, she was HEAVY but I say with the money it takes to do this, why not hire a trainer & nutritionist to help you with exercise & eating better. Heck, hire them to be with you all the time. Just so invasive over weight when it can be done with lifestyle changes. It is just hard work & takes time & many people don't want to put the effort into it. I am not saying this is the case here but if she had gastric bypass surgery & still put the weight back on then she just refused stop eating or so it seems....
Also agree with the last sentence: Regardless of the extent to which this procedure is used, it should under every circumstance be accompanied by nutrition and exercise therapy.
ReplyIf I recall correctly, I read something about this a few months ago and it addressed the failure of this same procedure. I think the first person to undergo this procedure actually gained weight? (can't recall where I read this).
The attitude some of you show towards obese people is appalling. If you haven't walked in the shoes of those struggling with morbid obesity you have no right to judge them.
Compassion would serve them much more effectively than your disdain. You can't shame and ridicule anyone into lasting change.
Reply"The attitude some of you show towards obese people is appalling"
What's more appalling is their complete lack of will power combined with choices that they KNOW are harmful for them, and then on top of that, NOT doing anything about their state of health. They're just ASKING for it.
"If you haven't walked in the shoes of those struggling with morbid obesity you have no right to judge them."
True, not everyone who's "morbidly obese" is an over-eater couch potato. I have been chubby before, but more importantly, I've worked with obese people in the past and I've also come across COUNTLESS examples of those that defy all odds. It's these people that leave you, me and everyone else with 0 excuses. Point Blank Period.
ReplyFor the countless people you know who've defied the odds, good on them. They've been through the process, tried and tested diets and exercise programs and finally something clicked and they found success.
It was a journey for them, just like it is for those people who are knowingly doing things that are "harmful" for them. Your success stories went through the same phase, knowingly harming themselves. It's part of the process and it's a longer, harder process for some.
What gives you the right to be judge and jury (chubby is not obese) and give them what they're ASKING for (yeah, they're just begging for your ridicule and disdain).
Frankly, why does it offend you so much?
Reply"OFFEND" me? Ha, please don't bother putting words in my mouth. It just merely shocks me.
And here's something for you to chew on. All the "medical terms" that are now known to most people are just a fancy way of saying one is FAT.
BUT... because its a "medical term" it gives those that are obese (fat) a reason to victimize themselves. It gives them a useless cushion to surround themselves with.
I know because I've TRIED helping people... but then they just say, oh... Im not fat, im just "clinically obese"... that means good eating habits and the right fitness information wont help me, only CLINICAL PILLS & PROCEDURES can solve my problem now.
Just what I've experienced. Am I saying that EVERY out of shape individual is like this? No. But do they exist? You better believe it.
Most people don't need to be cushioned and held by the hand, they need to be mentally broken down and re-programmed with confidence and bathed in information that is known to work. Then they need to be pushed outside their comfort zone... and in the end, they not only appreciate you, but appreciate themselves.
THAT'S how you change a LIFESTYLE. Not drop a few pounds. I'm done.
ReplyI don't disagree with you, but really you sound very hostile. You come off as a jerk whether you intended to or not. Fat people aren't stupid they know they are fat, possibly the person you were talking to didn't appricate you calling them fat? Everybody has an obsession that others wouldn't approve of, unfortunatly fat people can't hid their obsession.
ReplyI feel sorry for people who want to jump on the bandwagon of the latest diet/weight loss research just because they have tried "everything" and nothing works. How many people were out there when gastric bypass was a new procedure, asking their doctors for it because diets "didn't work" for them? And how many of those people weren't successful with the surgery because they didn't make over their lifestyle? So now what, they're going to get their BRAIN operated on so they won't overeat. If they can eat their way out of gastric bypass, what makes them think they won't eat their way out of this brain operation? If it truly does just make you feel full more quickly, I wonder if people will just eat smaller meals more often.
Like FitJerk said...some people are just "hoppers" and are looking for the instant quick-fix that will make them magically skinny and they won't have to do anything on their own to stay that way. It just doesn't work that way, I'm afraid. If you want to be a thin person, you have to live like a thin person. For some people, maybe this will help them, but I really hope it doesn't turn into some fad where people get brain surgery just because they want to fit into their skinny jeans.
ReplyIf you like food very much or rely on it for comfort, you're going to be miserable because you want to eat but you're full. People overeat when they're full too, so I doubt this would be a good idea. Find a spot in the brain that will make you hate food then (If that came true, it would be very sad).
ReplyListen, I think that anyone who would voluntarily submit to having a hole drilled into their cranium must be really really really (did I say really) desperate. Nope, I'm afraid I'm going to keep my head well away from anything of the sort!
ReplyI really think the brain transplant is a better idea. As well as eating better, I'm hoping to be able to play the piano.
ReplyThere are two distinct glands (areas? I forget) in the brain that regulates appetite/food consumption. The scientists had experimented on rats where the overstimulation of one area causes the rats to overconsume/gain weight--overstimulation of the other caused them to lose their appetite/lose weight. The destruction of one area caused decreased appetite/weight loss, and the other caused increased appetite/weight gain. What was interesting was with the weight loss, with the overstimulation/destruction of one of the areas the rats lost weight to a certain extent and then plateaued; whereas with the overstimulation/destruction of the other caused continuous weightloss.
I'm pretty fuzzy on the specifics but the idea's there (Yay, AP psychology ftw). Well, since human's are not rats...but who knows, people are pretty greedy/desperate these days.
ReplyI saw a piece about this brain surgery on TV. Yikes! I've had real brain surgery, and no thanks!
I'll stick with the Zone. I lost 100 pounds over a 2 year period of time with the Zone diet, and have maintained it for over 13 years now. Following the Zone diet and lifestyle recommendations results in hormonal and brain chemistry changes that effect appetite, satiety, and cravings. It's quite interesting. You can read more about it in the book TOXIC FAT by Barry Sears, Ph.D.
Reply"I often wonder how much people have "tired" to lose weight via more conventional routes" typo? was "tired" intended to be "Tried"? not that the humor wasn't lost on me...
ReplyMY CONTROL WEIGHT PROGRAM IS NOW AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN
ReplyI WENT TO FIRST WEIGHT CONTROL DOCS TO PUT ON WEIGHT.
WHEN I WENT UP TO OVER 165 LBS WENT TO WEIGHT CONTROL
DOCS IN MY AREA THREE TIMES. WHAT WORKS FOR ME I
EXERCISE MORE, EAT LESS!!!