Swallowing a “gastric band in a pill” leads to dramatic weight loss within weeks, a study has found.
People who used the capsule balloon lost more than two stone over four months, enough for significant health improvements, without the need for an operation.
The Elipse balloon, costs about £3,000, which is roughly half the price of surgery. It is available in the UK.
A quarter of British adults are obese and researchers hope that a balloon pill could be a cheaper and safer alternative to weight loss surgery. More than a million people are eligible for such surgery but only about 7,000 get an operation.
However, some experts fear that people would put the weight back on after the balloon deflated, and data over several