Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Hydrogel Pill Expands in Your Stomach, Not in Your Hands

Filed under: GI

Legend states that Hiram Maxim decided to pursue designs for a machine gun after being told the best way to get rich was to aid Europeans in killing each other. The advice could be extended to modern Western culture (mostly America) and allowing us to remain sedentary but gain no weight. Luckily, an Italian firm has stepped up to the plate, with a hydrogel pill that expands in the stomach, leaving the ingester feeling artificially full. Much better than the Medgadgeteer's plan of finding the safest tapeworms available...

Professor Luigi Ambrosio, lead researcher on the study at Italy's National Research Council, realised when they developed the hydrogel it may have a similar effect to gastric banding - a surgical procedure that reduces the size of the stomach.

The tiny pill is powdery when dry but when swallowed with a glass of water turns to a jelly-like ball in the stomach.

It is made from an organic compound called cellulose and can be flushed out by the body.

The pill, which has yet to be named, is being tested in a further 90 overweight volunteers who will be monitored to see how much weight they lose and if there are any adverse effects.

"One of our researchers tried the pill - he took it at about 11am and was still full at six in the evening.

"It's like eating a bowl of spaghetti."

We'd love to link to a peer reviewed publication, but all we've got is the BBC article...

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