United States: As an experimental procedure, this procedure has been set in place to attain a goal where only a part of the stomach lining as the source of the hormone will be eradicated selectively.
What further insights has the study yielded?
When the surgeon puts a tube through the patient’s throat a small device, which is designed to burn the upper section of the stomach, known as the gastric fundus, down the length of the stomach.
It is this region, specifically, of the stomach that secretes ghrelin, the main hormone responsible for the suppression of appetite, we can say as scientists explain it. In a six-month study conducted in ten obese women who underwent the treatment there was a great loss of weight, approximately 8 percent accompanied by a decrease of ghrelin levels roughly around 40 percent compared to the baseline fasting levels.
These findings will be shared in the second week of May during Digestive Disease Week. Physicians are invited to the Washington D.C. to join the conference.
Dr. Christopher McGowan, the lead researcher, and a gastroenterologist and medical director of the True You Weight Loss clinic in Cary, N.C. said, “This relatively brief, outpatient, non-surgical procedure can facilitate weight loss and significantly curb hunger, and it could be an additional option for patients who don’t want or aren’t eligible for anti-obesity medications, such as Wegovy and Ozempic, or bariatric surgery,” as US News reported.
Further details on the new methodology
Following this, the tube is threaded through the stomach, delivering a protective liquid to soothe irritated stomach walls while further ablating the lining of the gastric fundus. This results in a minimal presence of ghrelin-producing cells in that region of the stomach.
As a result, researchers have identified the folding and increased ghrelin production in the human stomach as the primary source of hunger.
Ghrelin, known as the hunger hormone, is produced by the gastric fundus as it fills with food, therefore reducing its production effectively suppresses appetite.
Post-procedure, participants reported a one-third reduction in hunger through a questionnaire, which was among the most significant outcomes perceived. Oral test drinks provided demonstrated a 42 percent decrease in gastric volume.
Up to this point the only sure way to slow down the production of ghrelin had been to bypass the fundus, the gastric pouch, the maneuver which has become one of the models used in the gastric bypass, stated the researchers.
Till now, no drugs have been identified that inhibit ghrelin production in their entirety by researchers. Medications for weight loss, such as Wegovy and Zepbound, are peptides designed to provide GLP1, which is a hormone that helps in the reduction of blood glucose levels.
McGowan added, “Obesity and weight are very complex and regulated by multiple hormone pathways. This procedure alters one of these many pathways that make it difficult for people to lose weight and maintain weight loss,” as US News reported.