Anti-obesity device tricks patients into thinking they’ve eaten

THREE overweight patients are to be fitted with a device that fools their brains into thinking they have eaten, in a new trial aimed at finding ways to cure obesity in Britain.

The device is inserted into the wall of the stomach and activates the nerves used for digestion.

It means that someone feels full, even though they have not eaten.

The technology will be trialled on three patients from the Midlands.

If successful, experts say it could be the new tool used for fighting one of the world’s most expensive and perilous health problems, obesity.

An estimated 700 people had been fitted with the weight-loss implants worldwide.

National Obesity Forum chairperson Dr David Haslam said the technology was very new, but could be “a new tool in the armoury” for fighting obesity.

By monitoring the progress of the three people about to be fitted with the device, doctors would know if the technology could potentially be used on thousands of Britain’s severely obese patients.

Dr Haslam described the implant as “a device that sends misleading messages to the brain”.

The implant was the size of a match stick and was placed beneath the skin on the abdomen. A wire with electrodes ran from the device to the wall of the stomach, where it was attached to muscles.

Once inserted, the device was then programmed by a doctor to send signals that activated the stomach’s nerves. The device was then reprogrammed as time went on, depending on the patient’s progress.

Dr Haslam said that the implants would cost around €18,000.