Obesity can be treated by the help of a device killing the feeling of hunger. US Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of the device. It is designed to help obese adults lose weight and decrease their risk of developing obesity-related conditions.

The medical device, surgically implanted into the abdomen, shocks the abdomen’s vagus nerve, which tells the brain if the stomach is empty or full. The electrical stimulation emitted from the implanted device blocks the message the stomach tries to send to the brain, so “I’m hungry” never makes it to the brain, Medicaldaily.com reports. Specialists say this device can treat obesity, metabolic diseases, and even gastrointestinal disorders.

Researchers studied 233 patients with a body mass index of 35 or higher and implanted the device into 157 of them.

Patients, using Masetro Rechargeable System within a year lost 8.5 percent more weight than the 76 patients who didn’t use the device. About half of the patients using the device lost at least 20 percent of their excess weight, and another 38.3 percent of the patients lost at least 25 percent of their excess weight.

This device has the potential to go a long way in a country with 78.6 million obese adults. That’s more than one-third of the US nation. 

It should be noted that obesity puts a person at risk for heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancer, high cholesterol and blood pressure, infertility, sleep apnea, etc.

Treating obesity is not just about improving our health: the costs for it are rather expensive.

 An obese person’s medical costs were $1,429 higher than the costs for a person of normal, healthy weight in USA in 2008.