Americans Head to Mexico for Controversial Weight-Loss 'Balloon Pill' Eric Johnson and Jackie Pou - ABC News
go to original June 17, 2014

The capsule, not FDA-approved, is swallowed, then inflates in the stomach to make the patient feel full. (ABC News)

At 330 pounds, Kimmy G. says she is never full. The Orange, Calif., resident, who asked that her full name not be used, said she has tried nearly every diet and weight-loss regime and nothing seems to help her shed the pounds. Kimmy, 48, was a successful plus-size model a few years ago and even appeared in the 2006 comedy film “Phat Girlz.” She wants to get back to her modeling weight. “I still was heavy. I still was thick, but I felt better and I could move around better,” she said.

Another California woman, Daisy Markley, a physician and mother of three from Valencia, Calif., faced similar weight loss issues. At 5-foot-4 and 152 pounds, Markley gained 10 pounds after she got married, and 20 pounds after she had her first child – 18 years ago.

Both women had recently heard about a new capsule nicknamed the “balloon pill” that might help in the weight-loss fight. A magic bullet, so to speak, that claims the kind of weight-loss results that so far only invasive surgery has produced, and is not just for the severely overweight.

The “balloon pill” is a controversial device called Obalon. The pill is attached to a catheter that allows doctors to inflate the balloon once the capsule is swallowed. It enters the stomach and quickly and doctors use nitrogen gas to inflate it into a small balloon, making the patient feel full immediately. It stays there for 30 days at a time, until it is removed by a doctor via endoscopy. Over the course of a 90-day treatment, two more balloons can be added.

The pill comes with strict guidelines. Patients can’t eat solid foods for the first three days and need to work out 90 minutes a day. Once patients start eating food, they won’t be able to eat more than a small meal per day.

... Both women are halfway to hitting their goals, but the true test will be when the balloons come out in two months and whether they can keep the weight off.

Read the rest at Yahoo! News

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