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CNN Live Today

'Daily Dose'

Aired October 14, 2003 - 11:34   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A new experimental device may offer an alternative to stomach surgery for obese people trying to lose weight. It's kind of like a pacemaker for your tummy.
Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen back for a double "Daily Dose."

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

KAGAN: If I knew you were coming back, I would have done a tease.

COHEN: Breast implants, weight loss. All the fun stuff. Absolutely.

KAGAN: You got it all.

How does this work?

COHEN: Well, it's very interesting. Doctors implant this device. Looks like a pacemaker. And they implant it surgically into people's stomach. And it sends off an electrical impulse. And for some reason they don't completely understand, it makes people feel full earlier than they ordinarily would. It gives them this feeling of, oh, I'm full, I don't need to eat any more. They think it might have something to do with the impulses telling hormones that they need to start making the person feel full.

And so what happened is, they tried this out on 30 people in the United States and have just presented the results at a conference. And what they found is that these folks who were on average 260 pounds ended up losing 18 percent of their body weight. So in other words, they went from 260 pounds to 213 pounds in 10 months. That is definitely impressive weight loss, there is no question. But it's also important to note some of the people saw very little or no weight loss. Some people saw greater weight loss. Here you see some before and after that are quite impressive. These are, of course, as they say your results may not be the same. You can't even get hold of this now. It's still under study.

But what they did find is that for some reason, these people just felt fuller and that, for the ones who were successful, they just stopped eating.

This has not been published. Other doctors have not reviewed it. And a lot of things start out sounding great when they're presented at a conference, and then you never hear about them again. KAGAN: And is the idea that you keep it in your stomach forever?

COHEN: It's in there.

KAGAN: Forever. The whole idea is to remind you that you're full. But as we know, we've all used food for different reasons. It's not always about being full. There's sometimes a lot of emotion tied in with eating.

COHEN: Absolutely. And even the doctor who did this research said to me, you go to a wedding and you eat, and you feel full. But then they bring out the pastries and you just keep eating. And he said this device isn't going to help you, it's just makes you feel full, and then it's up to you to say, OK, I'm full, I need to stop eating. So, as Daryn said, if you're eating for emotional reasons, if you're eating because of stress, this is not going to help. You have to work at it. This device doesn't take care of it for you.

KAGAN: But clearly, there's a need out there with obesity on the rise in America.

COHEN: Oh, yes.

KAGAN: Absolutely. Elizabeth, thank you, for a look at the future there. Appreciate that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired October 14, 2003 - 11:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A new experimental device may offer an alternative to stomach surgery for obese people trying to lose weight. It's kind of like a pacemaker for your tummy.
Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen back for a double "Daily Dose."

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

KAGAN: If I knew you were coming back, I would have done a tease.

COHEN: Breast implants, weight loss. All the fun stuff. Absolutely.

KAGAN: You got it all.

How does this work?

COHEN: Well, it's very interesting. Doctors implant this device. Looks like a pacemaker. And they implant it surgically into people's stomach. And it sends off an electrical impulse. And for some reason they don't completely understand, it makes people feel full earlier than they ordinarily would. It gives them this feeling of, oh, I'm full, I don't need to eat any more. They think it might have something to do with the impulses telling hormones that they need to start making the person feel full.

And so what happened is, they tried this out on 30 people in the United States and have just presented the results at a conference. And what they found is that these folks who were on average 260 pounds ended up losing 18 percent of their body weight. So in other words, they went from 260 pounds to 213 pounds in 10 months. That is definitely impressive weight loss, there is no question. But it's also important to note some of the people saw very little or no weight loss. Some people saw greater weight loss. Here you see some before and after that are quite impressive. These are, of course, as they say your results may not be the same. You can't even get hold of this now. It's still under study.

But what they did find is that for some reason, these people just felt fuller and that, for the ones who were successful, they just stopped eating.

This has not been published. Other doctors have not reviewed it. And a lot of things start out sounding great when they're presented at a conference, and then you never hear about them again. KAGAN: And is the idea that you keep it in your stomach forever?

COHEN: It's in there.

KAGAN: Forever. The whole idea is to remind you that you're full. But as we know, we've all used food for different reasons. It's not always about being full. There's sometimes a lot of emotion tied in with eating.

COHEN: Absolutely. And even the doctor who did this research said to me, you go to a wedding and you eat, and you feel full. But then they bring out the pastries and you just keep eating. And he said this device isn't going to help you, it's just makes you feel full, and then it's up to you to say, OK, I'm full, I need to stop eating. So, as Daryn said, if you're eating for emotional reasons, if you're eating because of stress, this is not going to help. You have to work at it. This device doesn't take care of it for you.

KAGAN: But clearly, there's a need out there with obesity on the rise in America.

COHEN: Oh, yes.

KAGAN: Absolutely. Elizabeth, thank you, for a look at the future there. Appreciate that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com