The New Weight-Loss Procedure You Can Swallow

Swallowing a pill to lose weight usually means ingesting chemicals that suppress your appetite, but a new weight-loss pill in the UK contains nothing but a balloon.

Obalon is a new gastric balloon treatment that comes in the form of a pill. It does not require any invasive surgery.

Patients swallow the pill, which is attached to a micro-catheter. Once it arrives in the stomach, the micro-catheter inflates the balloon to the size of an apple. The micro-catheter is then removed. The idea behind the procedure, which takes roughly 10 minutes, is that the balloon gives patients the sensation of fullness; this means they eat less and subsequently lose weight Read more...