Obesity is the key issues in the society now. It’s pretty impossible to turn away from such delicious food around us and the result of that is obesity. One of the reasons of not able to lose weight is lack of will power and due to this people are not able to change their unhealthy lifestyle. So, people go for surgical treatments for the treatment of obesity. But even though surgery is an option, it is not done without considering some options like diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiac problems and also it requires a patient to be at a specific weight to avoid any complication. Hence non-surgical obesity treatment is often done for the patient to come down to that specified weight before proceeding to surgery.
Intragastric balloon is one of the safest non-surgical treatments that are referred by physicians all over the world.

Procedure: The Intragastric balloon consists of soft, well tolerated silicone that is filled with a sterile saline solution. It is inserted into the stomach through the mouth with the help of an endoscopic tube within a time span of 20 to 30 minutes. Then using a fluid supply tube, the sterile solution is filled inside the gastric balloon and then removed. This balloon is kept inside the stomach a maximum of 6 months.

Advantages: The balloon fills the stomach and thus decreasing the food intake which will make you less hungry. The patient will be able to lose more weight than following other weight loss programs. As the patient won’t feel any hunger, he will be able to develop the will power by controlling his diet. This treatment is designed for only those patients who are 40% above their normal weight and after this treatment if necessary they will proceed to the surgical treatment.

Side effects: Some patients do not have the ability to tolerate this procedure. They will experience nausea and vomiting initially for a few days after the insertion. Taking medications for this will solve the problem.

General measures:

Physical activity- A minimum of 20 to 30 minutes of cardio exercises is recommended before and after the surgery. Diet: A low fat and high protein diet and also prescribed vitamins should be followed by the patients to lose weight in controlled manner.

Intragastric balloon is an obesity non-surgical treatment that the physicians recommend for weight loss in controlled manner. A balloon with saline solution is inserted into the stomach which reduces hunger and thus decreases food intake. However the balloon is used only for 6 months as the acidic content in the stomach will weaken the balloon and causing it to deflate.