New procedure helps man lose weight
Print Edition
AN obese man in Sichuan Province has lost more than 10 kilograms in two months after a new procedure that starves the “hunger hormone” by blocking a stomach artery.
Li Cun, 46, who weighed more than 80 kg and was only 1.54 meters tall, was suffering from serious kidney problems when he sought medical attention at the Second People’s Hospital in Chengdu in late August.
“His kidney problems could be fatal if he does not lose weight,” said Ren Yi, deputy chief of the hospital’s intervention therapy department. “The patient’s previous attempts to lose weight had all failed.”
Doctors tried the new procedure on Li by blocking a stomach artery with tiny grains of gelatine, which is a much less invasive operation than gastric surgery. This reduces the risk of blood loss and infection.
By blocking the left gastric artery, the procedure cuts blood supply to the part of the stomach that is home to many of the cells that release ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite, known as the “hunger hormone.” The procedure kills the cells, reduces the amount of hormones released and makes people feel full sooner.
For decades, gastric artery embolization has been used to stop stomach bleeding, but a study on how it could be used as a treatment in its own right began only in the recent two years, said Ren.
The procedure was tested at Johns Hopkins University in the United States last year. Researchers estimate the technique could help patients lose 10 percent of their weight.
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