Pages

Saturday 10 December 2016

Upchuck Christmas - an alternative

source

As the dread spectre of Christmas bloat wallows into view, Aeon reminds us about one way to shed the pounds - down the toilet.

The AspireAssist could be the most intuitive weight-loss therapy ever proposed. It works as a feeding tube in reverse: with the aid of an endoscope and a tiny blade, a physician places an internal catheter into the stomach and pulls it out through the skin. Shortly thereafter, the patient wakes up and goes home with a circular plastic window into the belly. For the next several months, about 20 minutes after every meal, the patient affixes an external drain to this implanted skin-port and spills a good bit of his or her gastric contents directly into the toilet.

This intervention is the latest in a series of minimally invasive devices approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of obesity. Its proponents cite data: there is no argument that ‘aspiration therapy’ helps people lose weight. Its detractors cite their revulsion: many argue that if one wanted to surgically induce an eating disorder, this would be the way.

4 comments:

Scrobs. said...

"This intervention is the latest in a series of minimally invasive devices"

Why cannot the fat sod just intervene him/her self between looking at junk food and eating it?

A K Haart said...

Scrobs - I don't know the answer to that. Or rather I may do but it casts a very bleak light on human behaviour.

Demetrius said...

Ugh.

A K Haart said...

Demetrius - my reaction too.