FDA-approved 'assisted bulimia' device pumps food from your stomach, allowing you to overeat while still losing weight

Wednesday, June 22, 2016 by: Daniel Barker
Tags: assisted bullimia, obesity, AspireAssist

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(NaturalNews) In a classic example of medical establishment "If you can't fix it with a pill, try surgery instead" logic, the FDA has approved the use of a new weight-loss innovation that pumps food from the stomach before it is digested – allowing patients to overeat without gaining weight.

The AspireAssist device removes roughly 30 percent of consumed food from the stomach by means of a surgically inserted pump and tube assembly. The makers of the device call their method "aspiration therapy," but some critics have dubbed it "assisted bulimia" – which is probably a more accurate description.

From Bel Marra Health:

"The AspireAssist involves implanting an A-tube into a patient's stomach which connects to a small port at the surface of the skin. The port has a valve that can be switched on or off to control movement of stomach contents. If a patient wants to empty their stomach contents, they attach a handheld device to their port. 20 minutes after eating, the AspireAssist allows an individual to empty the food that they consume in their diet straight into the toilet via the tube that is connected to their port. The emptying takes approximately 5-10 minutes to complete."

Good news for gluttons?

Proponents of aspiration therapy are quick to dismiss any suggestion that the device represents a "quick-fix" solution for an increasingly gluttonous populace that would rather undergo surgery than actually make lifestyle changes.

Dr. Shelby Sullivan of Washington University in St. Louis told NBC News:

"There is no such thing as medical bulimia or assisted bulimia. Patients eat less with this therapy then they did before. People think patients can eat whatever they want and then aspirate it and that's just not true. It has to be liquid enough and the particles have to be small enough to get through the tube."

The FDA also attempted to downplay associations with bulimia – an eating disorder involving purging of the stomach via induced vomiting – but the similarity is difficult to ignore.

From an FDA statement:

"The AspireAssist device should not be used on patients with eating disorders, and it is not intended to be used for short durations in those who are moderately overweight. It is intended to assist in weight loss in patients aged 22 and older who are obese, with a body mass index of 35 to 55, and who have failed to achieve and maintain weight loss through non-surgical weight-loss therapy."

Is surgery now preferable to diet and exercise?

The device is just the latest medical "solution" to the problem of obesity, which now affects nearly 40 percent of Americans. There are a number of surgical procedures and drugs available that are designed to address obesity, but their overall effectiveness and safety are debatable.

It might seem obvious that the use of natural methods would be preferable in the fight against obesity – for example, simply eliminating processed foods from one's diet can result in dramatic weight loss – but there's no money in that for the medical establishment, so they continue to create expensive and dangerous treatments that, if nothing else, are sure to generate a tidy profit.

The actual cost of installing the AspireAssist device is less than that of gastric bypass surgery, according to the makers, but let's face it: Is surgery ever cheap? Not to mention the risks involved in any type of surgery.

Have we really let ourselves become so fat and lazy that surgery is now preferable to diet and exercise? I find it difficult to imagine opting for such a procedure if there were any other choices available – and of course there are other solutions, at least for most people.

Sources:

NBCNews.com

BelMarraHealth.com

YouTube.com

TruthWiki.org