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American Morning

America's Obesity Problem Well Documented

Aired October 14, 2003 - 07:23   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: America's obesity problem is well documented. One adult in 50 is obese and four million people are at least 100 pounds overweight. But there is a new surgical treatment for obesity that operates like a tummy pacemaker.
Dr. Michel Gagner is chief of obesity surgery at New York's Weill Cornell Medical Center.

He joins us this morning.

Nice to see you.

Thanks for coming in to talk to us about this.

The tummy pacemaker, it kind of sounds bizarre. Give me a sense of where actually it's implanted in the body.

DR. MICHEL GAGNER, WEILL CORNELL: Well, we use small electrodes. These are small wires that permit to send electrical current to the stomach. It's inserted in the wall of the stomach, so between the outer and inner wall. And it's connected through a little battery, if you want, about the size of a silver dollar. And it sends electrical current on and off. And the person has a sensation that she feels full or not hungry. And over a certain period of time, there's a small amount of weight loss.

O'BRIEN: So when you talk about a small amount of weight loss, and, again, I am assuming that the patients who this would be suitable for are actually obese or are morbidly obese.

GAGNER: That's right.

O'BRIEN: What's small mean?

GAGNER: Well, the actual study that was presented just a few days ago stated that about 18 percent of excess weight is lost, in average. About one third didn't lose any weight. So two thirds of the patients had a weight loss that is comparable, I must say, to medications or diet.

O'BRIEN: So people who drugs basically got the same results. Before we talk about the drugs and how that compares, let's talk a little bit about how that compares to gastric bypass, which we've heard a lot about in the news lately. So if you're getting 18 percent of your excess weight loss, you're 100 pounds overweight, you lose 18 pounds?

GAGNER: That's right.

O'BRIEN: Gastric bypass, what's the percentage that you lose?

GAGNER: Yes, with gastric bypass, you lose about 70 percent of the excess weight loss. So 70 pounds on a person who is about 100 pounds over ideal body weight. And, you know, that's what about 100,000 Americans are choosing every year.

O'BRIEN: If it's about the same, though, as drugs, as a doctor, would you feel uncomfortable advising a patient to go under the knife when taking some pills might do the same thing?

GAGNER: I think the method needs to be refined. We need bigger weight loss. We need more sustained weight loss over a long period of time. The studies need to be done to find out if, for example, this weight loss may go to 24 percent or to 40 percent at three or four years. That would be more acceptable to undergo the knife and the associated small risk.

Presently, about 450 patients had this method and there's not been any serious side effects. So that's encouraging.

O'BRIEN: Are there any risks at all? I mean...

GAGNER: Yes, there are some potential small risks. You could have a perforation of the stomach, with leakage of the content. You could have a hemorrhage. You could have infections. These are wires and batteries and they can malfunction and they can break, so they need replacement.

O'BRIEN: So, something to watch maybe down the road a little more, effectively.

GAGNER: That's right.

O'BRIEN: Dr. Michel Gagner, nice to have you.

Thanks so much.

GAGNER: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Appreciate it.

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 - 07:23   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: America's obesity problem is well documented. One adult in 50 is obese and four million people are at least 100 pounds overweight. But there is a new surgical treatment for obesity that operates like a tummy pacemaker.
Dr. Michel Gagner is chief of obesity surgery at New York's Weill Cornell Medical Center.

He joins us this morning.

Nice to see you.

Thanks for coming in to talk to us about this.

The tummy pacemaker, it kind of sounds bizarre. Give me a sense of where actually it's implanted in the body.

DR. MICHEL GAGNER, WEILL CORNELL: Well, we use small electrodes. These are small wires that permit to send electrical current to the stomach. It's inserted in the wall of the stomach, so between the outer and inner wall. And it's connected through a little battery, if you want, about the size of a silver dollar. And it sends electrical current on and off. And the person has a sensation that she feels full or not hungry. And over a certain period of time, there's a small amount of weight loss.

O'BRIEN: So when you talk about a small amount of weight loss, and, again, I am assuming that the patients who this would be suitable for are actually obese or are morbidly obese.

GAGNER: That's right.

O'BRIEN: What's small mean?

GAGNER: Well, the actual study that was presented just a few days ago stated that about 18 percent of excess weight is lost, in average. About one third didn't lose any weight. So two thirds of the patients had a weight loss that is comparable, I must say, to medications or diet.

O'BRIEN: So people who drugs basically got the same results. Before we talk about the drugs and how that compares, let's talk a little bit about how that compares to gastric bypass, which we've heard a lot about in the news lately. So if you're getting 18 percent of your excess weight loss, you're 100 pounds overweight, you lose 18 pounds?

GAGNER: That's right.

O'BRIEN: Gastric bypass, what's the percentage that you lose?

GAGNER: Yes, with gastric bypass, you lose about 70 percent of the excess weight loss. So 70 pounds on a person who is about 100 pounds over ideal body weight. And, you know, that's what about 100,000 Americans are choosing every year.

O'BRIEN: If it's about the same, though, as drugs, as a doctor, would you feel uncomfortable advising a patient to go under the knife when taking some pills might do the same thing?

GAGNER: I think the method needs to be refined. We need bigger weight loss. We need more sustained weight loss over a long period of time. The studies need to be done to find out if, for example, this weight loss may go to 24 percent or to 40 percent at three or four years. That would be more acceptable to undergo the knife and the associated small risk.

Presently, about 450 patients had this method and there's not been any serious side effects. So that's encouraging.

O'BRIEN: Are there any risks at all? I mean...

GAGNER: Yes, there are some potential small risks. You could have a perforation of the stomach, with leakage of the content. You could have a hemorrhage. You could have infections. These are wires and batteries and they can malfunction and they can break, so they need replacement.

O'BRIEN: So, something to watch maybe down the road a little more, effectively.

GAGNER: That's right.

O'BRIEN: Dr. Michel Gagner, nice to have you.

Thanks so much.

GAGNER: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Appreciate it.

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