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FDA Approves Implantable Vagus Nerve Disruptor For Weight Loss
The L.A. Times reports that for the first time since 2007, the FDA has approved a weight loss device (as opposed to a weight-loss drug), an implantable device called the Maestro Rechargeable System. Using electrical leads implanted just above the stomach and a regulator carried under the skin near the ribcage, the device suppresses signals carried by the vagus nerve. ... The device adopts a variant of a "neuromodulation" technique long used in the treatment of epilepsy: by applying intermittent bursts of electrical current to the vagus nerve, it disrupts the signals that prompt the stomach to relax, expand and prepare for an influx of food. ... The FDA approved the use of the device in adult patients with a body mass index, or BMI, between 35 and 45, who have at least one other obesity-related condition, such as type 2 diabetes.
The vagus nerve does a lot of really cool things which don't get a lot of appreciation.
Cats purr to self-stimulate it. That's what they're doing when they make that noise. And you can do it also. It orders the mind, creating calm and clarity. When you're affronted with terror or high emotion, "pipe breathe" and within half a minute, you're in the zone, able to think and react with calm precision to high-stress situations. And that's just *one* thing.
So yeah, let's allow big pharma to cyberman our core nervous apparatus for something as incredibly stupid as a weight loss gimmick.
Affecting a nerve to help people regulate their hunger and help them loose weight? There is already a way of doing that and it's called Leptin. Leptin is the hormone that regulates hunger by stimulating receptors in the hypothalamus. When someone suffers from leptin resistance, he will eat all day. The fix? bye bye sugars, bye bye inflammatory foods, bye bye foods with anti-nutrients.
I lost 100lb resetting my leptin cycle, I stopped eating all day and simply wasn't hungry anymore. No will power, no pills, nothing... the anxiety for food just went away.
Here is a nice article with 29 scientific references that explains exactly the importance of Leptin Cycle
And here is a nice video from Stephan Guyenet, Ph.D. explaining it too
Affecting a whole big nerve instead of changing eating habits is a really really bad idea
- Human knowledge belongs to the world
I have a Vegas Nerve. Lost a lot of money on blackjack and hookers.
Table-ized A.I.
Cats purr to self-stimulate it. That's what they're doing when they make that noise.
So when I see some fat folks purring, I will know that they are using this device . . . ?
It will be on the side effects list: "Makes you purr."
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
Well, I don't know who to root for. I completely distrust the medical/cosmetic industry when it comes to selling solutions, especially for cosmetic issues (and this may be mostly health now, but don't kid yourself where it will be funded). On the other hand, the trolls who say it's all will power and fat is purely moral don't have much science behind them, and appear more motivated by "just world fallacy" reasoning (if a person is ill, and it isn't me, they more likely somehow deserve it). Both cost us money, over-prescription, and people who try to "believe-away" real health problems with high society costs.
As for the people who smugly think it's justice for affluent societies like USA, look at how obesity rates rise in nations which go from very poor to moderately poor. Africans, Asians, Latinos, and Europeans are not immune to unintended consequences. News Flash: As the threats of starvation subside, threats of overconsumption increase.
Gently reply
The implants have been used to control certain forms of epilepsy for some time. The side effects are known, which is how the possible use for weight control was discovered.
This isn't some random shit that someone started doing, so take your idiotic fear-mongering elsewhere.
, teenagers jumping off cliffs
That is an unfortunate side effect of improving someone's condition with severe depression. I've been there, when you're so depressed you don't want to get out of bed or do anything, barely having motivation to eat. Suddenly with an SSRI, and some other alternatives in principle as it isn't just the drug, you have energy and motivation to do things. Some people use that energy and motivation to fix some of the issues and improve their environment to remove things reenforcing their depression, to get their life back in shape. Others who were previous suicidal but too depressed to actually give a damn or motivate themselves to do anything also now have motivation to do what they think they want.