Obesity is today a public health issue, but it is also a difficult disease to treat. Scientists have looked into the question and have developed a treatment that could well be a game-changer: a connected… vibrating pill!
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Currently, there are few effective treatments against obesity, and all of them have serious disadvantages: adverse effects for tablets, endangering the patient’s life for gastric bypasses, etc. However, more and more people are affected: according to a study published in the journal Journal of Clinical Medicine in February 2023, initiated by the League Against Obesity and coordinated by researchers from Inserm and Montpellier University Hospital, 47.3% of French adults would be obese or overweight! To compensate for this therapeutic void, researchers have developed a treatment that is, to say the least, original: a… vibrating pill!
When we eat, our stomach stretches to make enough room for the food. This stretching mechanism triggers the gastric phase, and a feeling of fullness. The Vibes pill (Vibratory Ingestible Electronic Stimulation) plays on this mechanism. Intended to be taken 20 to 30 minutes before a meal, it vibrates slightly, giving the sensation of the stomach distending, helping to control food intake and potentially aiding weight management.
An economical alternative without side effects
This promising tablet consists of a vibrating motor, a battery, and a glucose membrane. Once ingested, the pill dissolves in the stomach, allowing glucose to mix with stomach fluids, triggering the vibration mechanism. The results, published in the journal Science Advances, reveal that the pill – currently tested on animals – led to a significant and constant reduction in the food consumption of the pigs who participated in the experiment. They showed no apparent signs of distress or negative side effects. The pill was well tolerated and passed through the digestive system normally. It therefore shows promise in the treatment of diseases linked to overeating, but also in the control of type II diabetes, by helping to maintain glucose at reasonable levels. Added to this is its price, since it is designed to be economical and produced on a large scale.
