Obesity is now becoming a very common and major health concern as this single health issue give birth to several chronic health concerns if it persists for a longer duration. Moreover, it affects the quality of life of the affected person in all respect. Though through primary weight loss measures such as dieting and exercising you can reduce your 5 to 10 pounds with the consistent effort still, it has high recurrence risk if you stop following those measures in the future.
So to deal with all these issues and for getting rid of your obesity problem intragastric balloons has emerged as an effective weight-loss tool or methods. This procedure works like a miracle which ensures long term effects if all the post-procedure care and rules are followed without negligence. This is the reason why gastric balloons are the best way to lose weight with their drastic and quick result.
People who don’t want to undergo through the invasive surgery processes and still want to remove those extra accumulated fats from the body in order to look and feel fit and healthy, gastric balloons are the best option for them.
Also, those who are not getting any noticeable reduction in their weight even after their longtime dieting as well as hardcore exercises efforts, they must try this alternative weight loss measure at least one.
Obesity comes with the risk of many chronic diseases growth such as cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, respiratory, urinary, psychiatric, dermatology, reproductive and above all reduction in total life span by minimum 5 to 7 years.
So it is very crucial if you are not getting any drastic change through other measures, to try the intragastric balloons for ensuring a long life span as well as diseases free healthy life.
Through a very mild procedure, silicon balloons are placed in your stomach. This then partially fills your stomach and the remaining portion of your stomach get easily filled even with a very little portion of meal or intake.
This particularly happens because the gastric balloons develop the feeling of satiety even with the little food intake. Also, it doesn’t let you feel hunger frequently as you usually have in your normal state.
It increases the effectiveness of other weight loss efforts like dieting and exercising as now even with the lesser effort your body can adhere to other weights loss measures effortlessly. You can take the dietary advice from the doctors to ensure that your body can receive the necessary amount of nutrients even with the little portion of the meal.
Also in order to get the long-lasting effect of the gastric balloons, make sure that you don’t avoid your daily fitness activities which are equally important for you to follow. Otherwise, in the negligence of all these, you can easily regain your weight after some time.
So to ensure the full-fledged benefits of the gastric balloon for weight loss you make necessary, healthy and permanent changes in your lifestyle. The below-mentioned points will analyze more elaborately how the gastric balloons actually work for reducing and managing unwanted body fat in order to maintain a healthy weight for the obese and pre-obese people.
Reasons Why Gastric Balloons Are The Best Way To Lose Weight
Gastric Balloons Can Reduce Weight of the Pre-Obese People
Pre-Obese is a stage just before the Obese level. Crossing that set level will fall you in the obese category where you are more susceptible to develop different health issues and weight reduction task gets very critical for the victim.
However, the good news is that with the placement of intragastric balloons in the stomach one can protect them from being counted among the long list of obese people worldwide. For both overweight and pre-obese the gastric balloons works very effectively and helps them in faster weight reduction if other weights loss measures (dieting and exercise) are alone not giving any effective result.
People having Body Mass Index or BMI 24 to 29.9 are considered as pre-obese and beyond this limit means BMI 30 and above counted in the list of obese people. People having BMI 40 and above are considered as eligible for weight loss surgery.
Other than that those who have BMI 35 and above along with other health issues such as diabetes and insomnia are also considered eligible for weight loss surgery. However, for those who are not eligible for this surgery or don’t want to undergo the surgery process for removing those unwanted fats or weight of their body, gastric balloons are the best possible option for them.
The intragastric balloons also prevent the emergency surgery situation for the obese people by bridging this time period gap temporarily. In the meantime, the concerned person can manage to lose weight up to the safer level which reduces the risk of complications associated with the weight loss surgery.
Similarly, it helps the pre-obese people to reduce weight in a safer way and eliminates the necessity of surgery by reducing their weight to the healthy level just within a year or even within 6 months in certain cases.
Since the time of the invention of the gastric balloons in the 1980s, it has progressed tremendously and progressively which simply makes it safer and usable for the pre-obese people by preventing the risk of perforation as it used to exist in its very initial phase.
Saline-Filled Gastric Balloons for Weight Loss
One of the gastric balloons that can aid in your rapid and effective weight loss goal is the saline-filled gastric balloons. These balloons can be inserted and inflated very easily and the best part of it is that the patient doesn’t require to stay longer in the hospital.
In general, the patient is released on the same day means gastric balloons insertion day just after three hours of the processing. Within the same amount of time, as per the necessity, even the balloons can be re-inflated that vary from the person to person.
In a study on pre-obese people whose BMI lies between 25 to 29.9 after the removal of these saline-filled gastric balloons approx. 9% on an average weight reduction was noticed from their initial weight.
Similarly in obese people having BMI 40 and above the on an average weight reduction noticed about 12% from their initial weight. However, in this study, some of the patients don’t show any reduction even after the removal of this gastric balloon after 6 to 7 months.
When this was analyzed to understand why this happened it is found that these failure cases occur because of the negligence towards dieting and exercising by this group of people. This shows that a gastric balloon is a multidisciplinary approach and alone it cannot do much or almost nothing.
Air Filled Gastric Balloon for the Weight Loss
Gastric Balloons which are inflated with air instead of fluid is known as air-filled gastric balloons which are also equally effective for the easiest weight reduction in the pre-obese and obese people.
In a study on people having BMI 39.75 on an average, instead of saline, their balloons were inflated with the air. After six months when it was removed the result was really very appreciating and satisfactory because there were 4.9 points on an average weight reduction was noticed which stands approx 29 pounds.
In this study, there were no major issues noticed except the one patient whose stomach twisted more than the 180 degree leading to pain which is a very rare scenario. Other than that there were no major complications noticed such as bleeding or cutting.
As per the doctors, there is no chance of overeating with an air-filled gastric balloon. If anyone tries to over-eat then the excess food will be released instantly through vomiting. In such cases, overeating is associated with some side effects like nausea, vomiting, and abdominal cramp.
However, these issues can be well managed through the medications and it doesn’t impact anyway to the overall health of the person has undergone through the gastric balloon insertion process.
This simply proofs the effectiveness or benefits of using a gastric balloon over the other weight loss measures where you cannot control your desire to consume unhealthy foods or prevent yourself from overeating in the cases of your favorite dish.
Gastric Balloons Ensure Rapid Weight Loss in Obese
Both air-filled and saline-filled balloons are best in their own specific way for ensuring faster and safer weight reduction in the pre-obese and obese people. Also, their deflation procedure is very safe and easy.
That means as per the necessity and requirement these gastric balloons can be deflated at any point and again it can be inflated through its processing. Generally, six months is enough to show a noticeable reduction in weight after the insertion of gastric balloons.
However, in certain cases or in specific patients, even the second time processing is required. In all the cases and circumstances, the success of this procedure depends on your punctuality towards the diet and well-planned exercise routine in order to continue with progressive weight loss as well as for maintaining it after the certain point.
For some patients, air-filled gastric balloons are much easier to tolerate than the saline-filled because of its lighter weight. However, this needs further study regarding this concept.
The gastric balloon weight loss procedure is not meant of the morbidly obese people because of the risk of the associated complication. For ensuring the safety, it is recommended to the patient who underwent the gastric balloons therapy that they must get their stomach X-ray test every month to check whether the balloon is deflated or it is in right position or condition.
Though this weight loss measure is a little bit costly still if we consider its benefits and effectiveness for weight loss in the obsess and pre-obese people it seems justified.
Gastric Balloons Doesn’t Interfere with the Stomach Anatomy
Another advantage of using or placing gastric balloons in the stomach is that you are simply going through a very safe procedure and in no way it is going to affect or interfere with your stomach anatomy.
The fluid-filled gastric balloons work on the principle of delaying the gastric emptying rate of your stomach. Hence your stomach remains full for a longer duration. This then neither let you feel hungry frequently not allow you to consume excessively as with a very little diet portion you feel full.
In the cases of air-filled gastric balloons insertion, though it doesn’t affect the gas emptying function of the stomach however it affects the stomach’s stretching receptor.
Resulting in it automatically gives a signal to your brain of the feeling of fullness even with the consumption of a very lesser amount of meal, than you used to eat before the insertion of this air-filled gastric balloons.
The application of gastric balloons is very safe and very rare circumstances are there of any serious incidents. Other than that it is the most reliable weight loss procedure for both pre-obese and obese people.
Gastric Balloons Must be Supported By a Planned Diet and Exercise Routine.
If anyone is planning to try gastric balloons for losing the stubborn fat of their body one thing they must understand clearly that this procedure will not bring you any desired or progressive result unless it is supported by a well-planned diet and exercise routine.
It only gives a boost to other weight loss measures and alone it cannot do anything. These balloons are not meant for weight maintenance purpose. So even if you have loosed your weight to a certain level for maintaining this reduced weight you must follow a strict diet routine as well as a workout routine.
Otherwise, the chances of recurrence weight gain will persist as it is and your effort for using the gastric balloons will go into vain. Gastric Balloons are best for the Short Term Result only. These intragastric balloons are basically for the temporary or short term result not for the permanent or long term changes.
It is not as permanent as other weight loss measures like endoscopic or surgery. It is removed after a certain period. However, by following a healthy lifestyle routine its result can be made a long-lasting effect or even for the lifetime.
Limitations of Gastric Balloons
In spite of many beneficial effects and positive result in losing weight, we cannot deny the fact that every other procedure or methods is accompanied with certain drawbacks or limitations and that is too with this procedure as well.
Some common side effects associated with the application of all types of gastric balloons include nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. This happens because the stomach has to make an adjustment with this new object so it takes time to get accustomed to it. However, these issues are relieved after taking medications.
With a comparison to saline-filled balloons, the air-filled balloons are less associated with major symptoms or side effects because of its lesser weight that puts less pressure in the stomach. However, the air-filled balloons don’t provide an effective outcome as a saline-filled balloon do by reducing a noticeable amount of weight.
In the very rare cases, some major issues are been noticed as of the date. In such cases a migration of gastric balloons happened that obstruct the small bowel movement, acid reflux and perforation occur.
However these are a very rare scenario and as per the overall effect of gastric balloons, treatment is considered it is very successful for reducing weight in obese and pre-obese people, rapidly and in a very safe mode.
Though there are some drawbacks of the gastric balloons weight-loss processing however to eliminate those major concerns the FDA has set some rules that must be adhered before the insertion of these balloons for the safety of the patients. This proofs that the gastric balloons are the best way to lose weight and a great advantage for the pre-obese and obese people who are struggling very hard in their day to day life.
[expand title=”View Article Sources“]
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5763559/
- https://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/news/20100506/gastric-balloons-may-aid-weight-loss#1
- https://www.ramsayhealth.co.uk/blog/2014/08/21/11-things-you-need-to-know-about-a-gastric-balloon
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