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There’s a device that drains food out of your stomach — and the FDA approved it

Grey_1
Grey_1 Posts: 1,139 Member
edited November 13 in Debate Club
I'm not struggling with obesity, but I saw this and am genuinely interested in opinions here. It seems the potential for abuse here is huge. Then again...there could be benefits for people who seem to be unable to lose weight based on other medical factors?

What do you think?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/theres-a-device-that-drains-food-out-of-your-stomach--and-the-fda-approved-it/2016/06/23/9a40ed3c-3975-11e6-a254-2b336e293a3c_story.html
The most surprising thing about the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the obesity-control device called AspireAssist may be how little mainstream attention it attracted. Because, frankly, a weight-loss machine that lets you eat all you want and then drains the food out of your stomach is a pretty startling invention.

AspireAssist works like this: In a 15-minute outpatient procedure, a surgeon implants a tube into a patient’s stomach. The tube is connected to a valve that lies flush against the skin of the abdomen. Twenty to 30 minutes after every meal, the patient opens the valve and uses a connecting device to drain the stomach contents into a toilet. “The device removes approximately 30 percent of the calories consumed,” the FDA said in announcing the approval on June 14.

But is it actually just a “medical bulimia machine”?
The FDA approval said that the machine is intended for obese people who have been unable to lose weight by other methods and that it should not be used by anyone with an eating disorder.

Friedhoff, though he notes the initial skepticism, takes a thoughtful approach, saying it’s too soon to judge what AspireAssist can and should do. So far, he says, the data is “very interesting” — though he warns that it is not data from peer-reviewed published studies, just from the manufacturer’s presentation.
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Replies

  • Grey_1
    Grey_1 Posts: 1,139 Member
    MeganAM89 wrote: »
    I think I'd want to see more information in terms of how a person gains access to it. I mean, it says there that they'd go to an outpatient clinic, but then can they just go home, eat some food, and then suck all of the stuff out of their stomach once they're done without even leaving the house?

    This just seems like a really bad idea. I'm sure that if left unsupervised so many people could rob their bodies of the food that they actually require.
    There are one or two in my wife's family that would do just that.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited November 2016
    There have been a number of discussions of this if you are interested in reading opinions (or if anyone doesn't feel like repeating their prior comments).

    A couple of them are found here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10409787/fda-approves-weight-loss-stomach-pump-device/p1

    and here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10409925/fda-approves-stomach-pump/p1
  • Grey_1
    Grey_1 Posts: 1,139 Member
    Ah, I admit I didn't search. Thanks lemurcat12
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    Gross.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    Definitely not in favour of this. I can see a myriad of problems developing with this, such as malnutrition and possibly many heath issues.

    Also, I cannot see how anyone who uses this device will keep that weight off even if they do manage to reach to goal due to lack of knowledge of weight loss in general and maintenance. It must be hard to determine exactly how many calories have been absorbed before this procedure. No one would know exactly how many calories they're absorbing or eliminating.
  • Jeannie3099
    Jeannie3099 Posts: 61 Member
    Jesus Christ.
  • jennybearlv
    jennybearlv Posts: 1,519 Member
    That looks about as fun as a colostomy bag. I am curious what niche illness this is specifically being marketed for. Treatment resistant BED or people who can't get regular weight loss surgery?
  • Elise4270
    Elise4270 Posts: 8,375 Member
    I suppose it could be one step in helping someone recovery from eating disorders. Maybe? Safer than throwing up?
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,262 Member
    No chance, I wouldn't be the guinea pig for that.
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
    edited November 2016
    Pretty sure we already had one lengthy topic on this nasty thing.

    ETA: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10409925/fda-approves-stomach-pump
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    Seemed very much like surgically assisted bulimia along with encouraging people to continue to over-eat.

    truly disgusting.
  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,338 Member
    Not in favor at all...People need to just put in the work, make the sacrifices...
  • Grey_1
    Grey_1 Posts: 1,139 Member
    Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
    JustMissTracy wrote: »
    Not in favor at all...People need to just put in the work, make the sacrifices...

    I'd posit that those who use this thing are making even more sacrifice than we are. Kind of a "pick your poison" scenario, but they are sacrificing something we are all slowly getting back: self-control and knowledge.

    Not a sacrifice I'd be willing to make. Good call
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
    JustMissTracy wrote: »
    Not in favor at all...People need to just put in the work, make the sacrifices...

    I'd posit that those who use this thing are making even more sacrifice than we are. Kind of a "pick your poison" scenario, but they are sacrificing something we are all slowly getting back: self-control and knowledge.

    So freaking true that just hitting awesome wasn't enough, I needed to comment to reiterate!
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    edited November 2016
    I keep thinking about this. At least with other surgical interventions, there is some sort of behavior modification that has to take place in order to achieve success. The people who have gastric bypass, for example, have to eat very small quantities of food, and have to restrict themselves from eating certain things forever. The most successful patients completely change their lives in order to get adequate nutrition.

    With this thing? All you need to do is chew a lot. There is no changing the behavior of over eating.

    I have personally found that addressing my issues with overeating cleared up other issues in my life because in order to address the overeating, I had to face other problems as well. To not treat obesity holistically is a disservice. This device is like, yay! You're not fat, but you're still a mess.
  • VeganRaptor
    VeganRaptor Posts: 164 Member
    Elise4270 wrote: »
    I suppose it could be one step in helping someone recovery from eating disorders. Maybe? Safer than throwing up?

    As someone with an eating disorder, this would be terrible to give to someone with bulimia. It may be technically safer than throwing up, but it would only serve to continue the binge/purge cycle, as for people with bulimia, purging needs to stop for binging to stop- and this is basically just another method of purging. The binging would continue, which is also very unhealthy and can cause complications. The device might save the oesophagus, but the possibility of stomach rupture would still be there, and the over abuse of the device that would come with an eating disorder would definitely result in severe malnutrition.

    In fact, in the documentary Thin (please don't watch if you struggle with disordered eating, it's very triggering), one of the eating disorder patients purged through a feeding tube surgically implanted in her stomach- a strikingly similar situation to this device.
  • WVWalkerFriend
    WVWalkerFriend Posts: 575 Member
    The FDA approves all sorts of things that end up in those commercials for various law firms. This sounds like a possible future contender.
  • Geocitiesuser
    Geocitiesuser Posts: 1,429 Member
    Jeannie3099 wrote: »
    Jesus Christ.

    So much this.

    I almost lost 30% of my lunch reading how it works....
  • xmichaelyx
    xmichaelyx Posts: 883 Member
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    Everyone keeps looking for a simple answer, and there isn't one.

    I'd argue that the answer is shocking simple: Eat fewer calories.

    But people are looking for a different simple answer because they're unwilling to accept responsibility for their failures.

  • vikinglander
    vikinglander Posts: 1,547 Member
    This is ludicrous...
  • Lynzdee18
    Lynzdee18 Posts: 500 Member
    Just. Eat. Less.
  • RredSonja
    RredSonja Posts: 307 Member
    This is just scary, to me. If you didn't have an eating disorder, I would think this might encourage development of one!
This discussion has been closed.

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