A Drug to Replace Weight Loss Surgery
While speaking in the UK at the British Association Festival of Science, Dr Carol Le Roux, of Imperial College London, indicated that researchers are trying to determine how weight loss surgery changes the balance of hormones in the body that play a role in weight loss. This is an important quest since weight loss surgery is the most successful weight loss treatment.
Weight loss surgery can allow a person to lose twenty to twenty five percent of his or her weight over a period of time. And after the surgery, many persons are able to maintain significant, long-term weight loss. However, some of the effects of weight loss surgery are not completely understood.
The hormones, PYY and GLP-1, that make you feel full have a greater effect after weight loss surgery, and the hormone, ghrelin, that makes you feel hungry has a lesser effect after the surgery. If researchers can make headway in determining how weight loss surgery causes a re-balance of these hormones, the results could lead to drugs that replace weight loss surgery.
Dr. Le Roux indicated that she hopes that in five to ten years, a drug to mimic weight loss surgery can be developed. This would be viewed as a significant achievement for the weight loss industry. And although the drug could negatively impact those providers performing weight loss surgery, if a weight loss drug could be found that produces minimum side effects, the drug would be a significant option for persons seeking weight loss.
Minimizing side effects would have to be an important feature of the drug. There are, and have been, obesity drugs on the market, but they usually produce unhealthy or annoying side effects, including thoughts of suicide and gas.
We’ve seen estimates that show that more than 300 million people in the world are obese, including more than 70 million in the United States. And we’ve seen estimates of the market for obesity drugs and bariatric surgical devices to be more than $350 million. Therefore, there is great demand and a large market for new therapies that can combat obesity. A drug to mimic weight loss surgery would be welcomed.
Those of us interested in the weight loss or bariatric industry should maintain awareness of this drug research and other research directed at weight loss treatments. The weight loss center that makes the best use of weight loss research results will gain a competitive advantage.
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Weight loss surgery can allow a person to lose twenty to twenty five percent of his or her weight over a period of time. And after the surgery, many persons are able to maintain significant, long-term weight loss. However, some of the effects of weight loss surgery are not completely understood.
The hormones, PYY and GLP-1, that make you feel full have a greater effect after weight loss surgery, and the hormone, ghrelin, that makes you feel hungry has a lesser effect after the surgery. If researchers can make headway in determining how weight loss surgery causes a re-balance of these hormones, the results could lead to drugs that replace weight loss surgery.
Dr. Le Roux indicated that she hopes that in five to ten years, a drug to mimic weight loss surgery can be developed. This would be viewed as a significant achievement for the weight loss industry. And although the drug could negatively impact those providers performing weight loss surgery, if a weight loss drug could be found that produces minimum side effects, the drug would be a significant option for persons seeking weight loss.
Minimizing side effects would have to be an important feature of the drug. There are, and have been, obesity drugs on the market, but they usually produce unhealthy or annoying side effects, including thoughts of suicide and gas.
We’ve seen estimates that show that more than 300 million people in the world are obese, including more than 70 million in the United States. And we’ve seen estimates of the market for obesity drugs and bariatric surgical devices to be more than $350 million. Therefore, there is great demand and a large market for new therapies that can combat obesity. A drug to mimic weight loss surgery would be welcomed.
Those of us interested in the weight loss or bariatric industry should maintain awareness of this drug research and other research directed at weight loss treatments. The weight loss center that makes the best use of weight loss research results will gain a competitive advantage.
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