New technologies for treating obesity

Obesity has become a national epidemic and a disease of global magnitude. The numbers of patients with obesity have grown exponentially in the last 10 years to the degree that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that one third of the US population is obese. The prevalence of diabetes has grown by more than 50% in that same time period. Unfortunately, the traditional therapies of diets, exercise, behavioral modification and medications have had little effect, especially in the severely obese. The introduction of bariatric surgery has changed the natural history of the super obese. Operative approaches now provide the most effective treatment of obesity but carry with them possible risks. Only 1% of patients who are estimated to benefit from bariatric surgery have undergone a procedure. The burgeoning field of endoluminal therapy has now allowed us to consider even more minimally invasive procedures to reach a larger patient population. This article will review the most recent advances in innovative technologies to treat the growing numbers of obese patients.