Weight Loss Through Brain Surgery

Medical science - sometimes we are thrilled with the advancements that they make, but other times, you just shake your head and say "What the ....".

I was watching Oprah this morning and got the shock of my life at the topic that was being featured. She was having an interview with Dr. Oz and the topic of discussion... you guessed it. Weight Loss Through Brain Surgery. Now of course at first, many may not be able to see the connection here, but basically, our brain controls a lot of our bodily functions, including our appetite, which can lead to obesity.

So the surgery involves drilling a hole in your brain and placing 2 electrodes in there which discharges a small electrical pulse which is supposed to affect the part of your brain which is responsible for your appetite. This electrical pulse is supposed to suppress your appetite somewhat, hence making you eat less, which equals to weight loss. The electrical charges start with a very low voltage and is increased slowly in the months to come. According to doctors, it will take several months before the patient actually sees results.

These electrodes get their power from two pacemaker type devices which are implanted in the patients chest and has a wire running from your chest to the brain. The whole surgery takes about 3 hours to complete and supposedly they have been using the similar technology to treat Parkinson's disease.

So, has this revolutionary medical procedure been tested on an actual human subject? But of course. Carol Poe, the 2nd recipient of this procedure said she has tried everything from diets, to exercise, to stomach staples, but nothing ever worked. (really or you just didn't try hard enough) But now she claims that she can actually control her cravings thanks to this wonder..... whatever you want to call it.

According to Doctors there are no side effects from this procedure as they have been using it for many years on patients with Parkinson's Disease, and thus they are confident it is safe. The other point for adding to your feeling of security (just in case you had any doubts) is that the voltages start at a very low rate and can be manually adjusted, hence doctors are able to monitor their patients carefully before increasing the voltage.

So guys, what do you think about this procedure? Is it sane or insane? Is it really that hard to lose weight that you have to resort to such extreme measures? is exercise really that hard to do? Oprah said she would never attempt such a procedure. So what are your thoughts on this? As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.