By Nasrin Mani, M.D.
What if you could lose 10% of your body weight—the realistic goal for any successful diet—while eating the same quantity and type of food and without exercise? What if all it took was a single injection? Researchers at the private research firm Braasch Biotech believe they may soon be able to make that dream a reality.
Researchers have developed an injection that changes the way your body regulates its weight. The injection, which is categorized as a “vaccine,” works by counteracting a hormone called somatostatin. Somatostatin is one of the hormones your body uses to regulate weight. Specifically, it slows down your metabolism and encourages your body to put on weight. The injection works by fooling your body into making antibodies that stop the hormone from working, encouraging your body to naturally shed pounds.
Researchers have tested the effects on mice that were given weight-gaining diets that consisted of 60% fat calories. While on the diet, all mice gained about 15% more body mass. About half the mice were then given an injection, and all mice remained on the high-fat diet. The mice that had received the injections dropped to 104-107% of their original body mass, while the mice who had not received the injection remained at 115% of their body mass.
An injection that can help you lose weight seems like a great prospect, but we don’t know when or even if this technology will ever see fruition. We do, however, have a fat-loss technology in our office that is almost as convenient.
Coolsculpting is one of the best options for non-surgical fat removal. By placing unwanted fat deposits between the machine’s cooling panels, Coolsculpting induces the death of fragile fat cells, which are then removed by your body using natural metabolic processes. The result is a significant, visible reduction in fat in the targeted area. Although it’s not quite as quick as an injection, at one hour the treatment time is still significantly less than a surgical alternative like liposuction.
To learn more about Coolsculpting or any of the other advanced body sculpting technologies we offer to patients in the San Diego area, please contact the La Jolla Cosmetic Laser Clinic for a consultation.
