Welcome to Debate Club! Please be aware that this is a space for respectful debate, and that your ideas will be challenged here. Please remember to critique the argument, not the author.

Gastric ByPass Pill?

enterdanger
enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
in Debate Club
http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/17/allurion-offers-gastric-bypass-surgery-in-a-pill/?ncid=rss

Has anyone seen this? I just read it. Personally, I'd be worried about side effects, but I can see a lot of uses for this. Especially in patients that are too obese for surgery or anesthesia. Science is cool.

Replies

  • 100df
    100df Posts: 668 Member
    Interesting! Thank you for sharing. While it's all about CICO, there's nothing wrong with using tools to help you keep your calories to a deficit.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    Wow, cool!!
  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
    So stomach acid can dissolve steel but not plastic?
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    JanetYellen wrote: »
    So stomach acid can dissolve steel but not plastic?

    Isn't hydrochloric acid for pools sold in plastic bottles?
  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
    edited May 2016
    A plastic toy maybe solid. This looks like a thinner skinned balloon.
    Small enough to fit in a pill. Should be very thin.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
    I would want to read a lot of research on a device like that before considering it as an option.
  • Amazon_Who
    Amazon_Who Posts: 1,092 Member
    If it is like the other gastric balloons, it is only left in for 6 months.
  • Purplebunnysarah
    Purplebunnysarah Posts: 3,252 Member
    I don't think plastic vs acid is a huge concern at the acid concentration stomach acid is usually found at. At work we cook samples in concentrated nitric/hydrochloric acid, and we do it in disposable plastic tubes at 95C...
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
    dixie_amazon wrote: »
    If it is like the other gastric balloons, it is only left in for 6 months.

    so...since this is non invasive, do you just pass it after 6 months?

    The article said that it's already approved in the UK. Do we have any brits here that can weigh-in? (yes bad pun intended)
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    dixie_amazon wrote: »
    If it is like the other gastric balloons, it is only left in for 6 months.

    The article says it lasts 4 months.

    It seems like a pretty good alternative to surgery to me. It says you excrete the balloon. I wonder what the risk of it become stuck and causing impaction is.
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
    @need2exerc1se that's not a pretty mental picture. AT my age having a normal BM daily is of the utmost importance.
  • cw106
    cw106 Posts: 952 Member
    Available privately in uk apparently.
    Not heard of it at all prior to this thread.
    Free,non-invasive surgery available on NHS for those with a 40+ bmi.
  • Amazon_Who
    Amazon_Who Posts: 1,092 Member
    Maybe I should say less invasive. No surgery involved.
  • shinycrazy
    shinycrazy Posts: 1,081 Member
    I was intrigued by this for my mom, who has a laundry list of health problems that have made losing weight difficult for her. She is not a candidate for surgery due to her health, so if it received FDA approval I think it would be a good option for her.

Categories