{"id":390178,"date":"2023-12-22T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-22T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/this-vibrating-weight-loss-pill-seems-to-work-in-pigs\/"},"modified":"2023-12-22T17:21:40","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T22:21:40","slug":"this-vibrating-weight-loss-pill-seems-to-work-in-pigs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/this-vibrating-weight-loss-pill-seems-to-work-in-pigs\/","title":{"rendered":"This vibrating weight-loss pill seems to work\u2014in pigs","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/this-vibrating-weight-loss-pill-seems-to-work-in-pigs.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class>\n<div>\n<div class=\"gutenbergContent__content--109b03a769a11e8ae3acbab352a64269 html_0\">\n<p>What if all you needed to lose weight were some good vibrations? That\u2019s the idea behind a new weight-loss pill that tricks the brain into thinking the stomach is full, by stimulating the nerve endings that sense when the stomach expands.<\/p>\n<p>The capsule, about the size of a large vitamin, houses a tiny motor that starts vibrating when it hits the stomach, stimulating the organ\u2019s stretch receptors. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<aside aria-label=\"Related Story - Weight-loss injections have taken over the internet. But what does this mean for people IRL?\" class=\"related__wrap alignleft\"><\/aside>\n<div>\n<div class=\"gutenbergContent__content--109b03a769a11e8ae3acbab352a64269 html_3\">\n<p>So far this \u201celectroceutical\u201d has only been tested in a handful of young Yorkshire pigs, but with promising results. According to a new paper in Science Advances, the six pigs that were given the pill ate 40% less than swine that received a placebo over the course of two weeks. That\u2019s roughly what the team expected, but \u201cwe were very surprised when it had such a consistent effect,\u201d says Shriya Srinivasan, a biomedical engineer at Harvard and one of the study\u2019s authors. The pigs didn\u2019t lose weight\u2014they were still growing\u2014but the animals that received the vibrating capsule didn\u2019t gain as much weight as the control group.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The capsule, called the Vibratory Ingestible BioElectronic Stimulator (VIBES), mimicked the effects of a full stomach in other ways, too. After the pill started buzzing, insulin levels in the swine rose and levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin fell, just as they do when the stomach expands after a large meal.<\/p>\n<p>Carlos Campos, a neuroscientist at the University of Washington who studies signaling between the gut and the brain, says the technology is impressive. \u201cThere\u2019s quite a bit of engineering that went into making this vibrating pill,\u201d he says. Here\u2019s how it works: When the capsule hits stomach acid, the outer gelatinous membrane dissolves, releasing a spring-loaded pogo pin that completes an electrical circuit. That pin activates a battery-powered motor that drives the vibrations, which last for about half an hour. The vibrations trigger the stretch receptors, which give the brain \u201can illusory satiety effect,\u201d Srinivasan says. And if you feel full, you might eat less.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Even with new, more effective weight-loss medications, Campos says, there is still a need for new therapies to address the obesity epidemic. Wegovy and Zepbound injections are expensive, and studies suggest people will need to take them indefinitely to keep the weight off. \u201cWith mechanical stimulation, you can decide when to use it, when not to use it. You have a lot better control of how the stimulus is given,\u201d he says.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But there\u2019s a caveat, Campos says. You can\u2019t dupe the brain forever. If it decides those stretch signals aren\u2019t a reliable cue for how much food was consumed, \u201cthen the brain might start to use other signals to decide how much to eat,\u201d he says. \u201cWe don\u2019t know how long that trick is going to work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The researchers envision that people would take the VIBES pill about 20 or 30 minutes before each meal. In pigs at least, the capsule seemed safe, vibrating at a level that Srinivasan said was gentler than an electric toothbrush. \u201cWe didn&#8217;t see any nausea, vomiting, bloating\u2014nothing like that,\u201d she says. But the experiment didn\u2019t entirely mimic the way VIBES might be used in humans. Pigs are bad at swallowing pills without biting or chewing, so the researchers placed the pill in the animals\u2019 stomachs through a feeding tube. The capsules were tied to an external battery and activated before the pigs got their twice-daily serving of food pellets.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If this ever makes it to humans, people would be ingesting multiple bioelectric capsules each day. The animals managed to safely clear a single capsule in four days, on average, but \u201cwe don\u2019t know what the effect will be in humans,\u201d Srinivasan says. The pills might pass through the body faster.<\/p>\n<p>Srinivasan hopes they might be able to test that in a year or two. The VIBES technology doesn\u2019t use any expensive materials, so the team expects it could be mass-manufactured for a dollar or less per pill. \u201cThe fact that it is a pill makes it accessible to the populations of the world that can\u2019t afford these other more invasive or costly options that usually are acquired with implants or surgeries,\u201d she adds. \u201cI think it would be extremely affordable for the masses.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<ul class=\"plato-post-bottom-links\">\n<li class=\"plato-post-bottom-link-amplifi\">SEO Powered Content &amp; PR Distribution. <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amplifipr.com\">Get Amplified Today.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"plato-post-bottom-link-platodata-network\">PlatoData.Network Vertical Generative Ai. Empower Yourself. <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/platodata.network\">Access Here.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"plato-post-bottom-link-platoaistream\">PlatoAiStream. Web3 Intelligence. Knowledge Amplified. <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/platoaistream.com\">Access Here.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"plato-post-bottom-link-platoesg\">PlatoESG. <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/platoesg.com\/aiwire\/carbon\/\">Carbon,<\/a> <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/platoesg.com\/aiwire\/cleantech\/\">CleanTech,<\/a> <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/platoesg.com\/aiwire\/energy\/\">Energy,<\/a> <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/platoesg.com\/aiwire\/environment\/\">Environment,<\/a> <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/platoesg.com\/aiwire\/solar\/\">Solar,<\/a> <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/platoesg.com\/aiwire\/waste-management\/\">Waste Management.<\/a> <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/platoesg.com\">Access Here.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"plato-post-bottom-link-platohealth\">PlatoHealth. Biotech and Clinical Trials Intelligence. <a href=\"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Access Here.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"plato-post-bottom-link-source\"><span>Source:<\/span> <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyreview.com\/2023\/12\/22\/1085841\/vibrating-weight-loss-pill-pigs\/\">https:\/\/www.technologyreview.com\/2023\/12\/22\/1085841\/vibrating-weight-loss-pill-pigs\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What if all you needed to lose weight were some good vibrations? That\u2019s the idea behind a new weight-loss pill that tricks the brain into thinking the stomach is full, by stimulating the nerve endings that sense when the stomach expands. The capsule, about the size of a large vitamin, houses a tiny motor that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":2,"featured_media":390181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"acf":[],"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"link","format":"url"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390178"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390178"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":390180,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390178\/revisions\/390180"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}