StemCell Therapy

Editor's Choice Academic Journal Main Category: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness Also Included In: Stem Cell Research;Radiology / Nuclear Medicine Article Date: 29 Mar 2012 - 6:00 PDT

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At the Society of Interventional Radiology's 37th Annual Scientific Meeting in San Francisco, Calif. scientists reported initial results from various studies, for instance a minimally invasive treatment that potentially targets hunger at its source, X-ray visible embolic beads that block arteries to the stomach and suppress hunger, whilst a third study examines using stem cells to repair vertebral disc degeneration.

Morbidly obese individuals may potentially find help in new approaches to proven interventional radiology treatments that have been assessed in two new studies.

Leading researcher, Charles Y. Kim, M.D., assistant professor of radiology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. explained:

Our promising results led us to believe that a minimally invasive interventional radiology treatment - called bariatric arterial embolization - would allow for precise targeting of a specific portion of a person's stomach in order to decrease production of ghrelin, a hormone that causes hunger. This treatment could one day be the answer for those who have not been successful with weight loss through diet and exercise."

In an minimally invasive technique called Embolization, an interventional radiologists injects tiny particles via a thin catheter into an artery that supplies the treated area in order to block tiny vessels so that the blood supply is starved.

Kim says:

We found that when ghrelin levels decrease, appetite and hunger also decrease, causing weight loss in the treated animals relative to non-treated animals. Bariatric arterial embolization may have a future use in treating obesity in humans by significantly suppressing appetite to achieve weight loss."

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Latest Radiology Treatments For Obesity

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