Katrin Falb, 33, a dietitian with an extra weight issue since her early teenage life, has attempted anything from Weight fad diets to acupuncture. Now Falb may have discovered the solution to her problems with a product inserted close to her stomach.
The product, designed by IntraPace Inc. and known as Abiliti, is the size of a half-inch pile of business cards and transmits electrical pulses to the belly to let individuals feel full with lesser foods. It also transmits signals to the brain to deter snacking between meals and late night.
The implant has so far aided Falb lose 51 lbs since her surgical procedure in March 2011.
Patients in Germany, Italy, Spain, France and England are choosing the product after it acquired European approval in January 2011, and California-based IntraPace is planning to look for approval in the U.S., where one in 3 adults are overweight. Obesity increases threats of diabetes and stroke, and costs the US $147 billion a year in medical expenditures and lost productivity, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
IntraPace is not the first firm to create a hunger-controlling product, but those earlier efforts have yet to show they are more efficient than diet and exercise. The IntraPace solution, which consists of information monitoring and a social networking assistance element, is viewed as getting a better chance at unquestionably modifying eating behaviors.
However, due to the additional safety and efficacy screening needed by the Food and Drug Administration, US acceptance may get an additional 3 to 5 years after European clearance.
Abiliti targets individuals with a body mass index (BMI) between 35 and 55 who are contemplating stomach stapling or gastric banding processes, which still enable individuals to eat between meals if the stomach is unfilled. .
Abiliti, which is inserted via minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery, is considered to be more secure, with none of the common side effects that go with other bariatric methods. Gastric bypass surgery can cause repeated diarrhea and inability to digest calcium and iron, which has not been seen among Abiliti patients.…
