Researchers Suppress 'Hunger Hormone'

Researchers at John Hopkins University have found a way to reduce the hunger hormone without a major surgery, therefor enabling people to lose weight. They have successfully suppressed levels of ghrelin in pigs, resulting in weight loss for these pigs. The procedure is called gastric artery chemical embolization or GACE, and its result is similar to that of bariatric surgery because it lowers appetite.

Bariatric surgery calls for a complicated procedure that can potentially have major risks and even loss of life. With GACE there is a simple procedure, that although only tested on pigs, has been very successful. Researchers tested blood from pigs to determine their ghrelin levels before the procedure. During the procedure they injected sodium morrhuate into gastric arteries that supply blood to the pig's stomach. They also had a group that was injected saline to compare too. After a month, blood samples showed that the pigs with the real procedure had about 60 percent lower ghrelin levels than what they had started with, meaning the procedure worked and the pigs were able to loose weight since their hunger hormone had been suppressed.

I found this article interesting because of where I come from. South Texas has a huge obesity problem in children through adults. I know several adults who have had the bariatric surgery and have benefited from it. But I also know of a person who has lost her life from it. A good friend of mine lost his mother due to bariatric surgery, and she has not been the only person that had passed away due to this procedure. If we had a procedure like GACE, then losing weight would be easier and less riskful, and more people would take advantage of it. Hopefully in the future this procedure will prove that it can be done in humans and will be a way for obese people to lose weight.