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A new gastric balloon you can swallow can help slimmers shed third of their weight in just four months

Scientists have developed a new gastric balloon that can be swallowed and which can help slimmer shed up to a third of their weight in just four months without needing surgery.

This balloon is swallowed just like a pill, before inflating in the stomach, filling it and thus reducing appetite. It deflates after four months.

The results have so far shown that the use is perfectly “safe and effective” and triggered “substantial weight loss” in obese patients, with people losing up to a third of their weight.

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“Because the Elipse Balloon does not require endoscopy, surgery or anaesthesia, this may make it suitable for a larger population of obese patients not responding to diet or lifestyle treatment,” Dr Roberta Ienca of Sapienza University of Rome, who led the study, declared.

“During my daily phone contacts with my patients, they shared with me their pictures and the amount of weight they lost. They are very satisfied with the results achieved day after day,” Dr Ienca further detailed.

The device has been praised by lots of members of the medical community. “With bariatric surgery, there are potential complications, it’s a very permanent change in your life and it’s not easily reversible. People are looking for alternatives. “I think this is for people before they would get to the point where they need bariatric surgery. Potentially millions could benefit,” Prof Jason Halford, treasurer of the European Association for the Study of Obesity, stated.

“The introduction of a device which doesn’t require surgery to implant is a positive step forward,” concluded Dr Simon Cork, Research Fellow at the Department of Investigative Medicine, Imperial College London.

Lydia Peirce

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