Have you heard of any thing crazier?
Believe it or not, brain surgery can help weight loss. Or at least that is what the advocates of this surgery are promising. Dr Julian Bailes, chairman of West Virginia University’s department of neurosurgery has conducted this surgery on Carol Poe, a 60-year-old lady there. She is only the second person to have undergone this extreme medical procedure.
As she did not get the desired effects from normal weight loss procedures like dieting, stomach stapling etc, she opted to be part of this surgical procedure. In the actual surgical procedure, the patient’s skull is drilled open and wires were installed so as to send electrical signals in to the exact brain area, which controls the feelings of hunger and fulfillment.
This procedure is meant to be for obese patients: not for overweight patients. And Carol Poe is a good candidate for this procedure as she was once at a weight of 490 lbs and has come down to 230 lbs.
Through this new age medical procedure, doctors are trying to get hold of the brain functions which can cause over eating, excessive appetite etc. Doctors are confident to gain positive results by applying electric pulses on to the brain region that controls such feelings.
This current trial program is approved by FDA and is done only at the West Virginia University hospital. And Carol Poe is only the second person that has ever undergone any such procedure all over the world. The previous person’s neurosurgery was also done at the same hospital.
The electric pulse is administered on to the patient from two pacemakers installed in her chest. Over a period of time, the doctors will send electric pulses of increasing intensity in to the brain and try to make her feel full a lot quicker than she is currently feeling when having food.
The patient’s weight loss will be visible only a few months after the procedure. Carol Poe has lost 3 lbs of weight in only a week after her surgery. And she is feeling full a lot faster than she used to be.
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