
An apparatus that may trick the brain into thinking the stomach is full - dankohn1
http://www.buzzfeed.com/joeloliphint/the-invention-that-could-end-obesity
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vidarh
Anyone who expects that "tricking the brain into thinking the stomach is full"
will end obesity does not understand the myriad of motivations for overeating.

Feeling hungry is just one of many.

For my part, I pretty much never over-eat because I feel hungry. When I fail
to adhere to my diet, it is almost always because stress or moods or social
situations gets me to ignore very obvious feelings of fullness and continue to
eat, or eat the "wrong" foods.

It's not that things like this couldn't be very helpful for a lot of people,
but there are also a _lot_ of people for whom it'd do absolutely nothing.

~~~
Semiapies
What I hate about headlines is that people view them as a proposition to
debate. When every journalist I've known or followed has linked to a published
story of theirs, the first thing they always say is, "I didn't write the
headline." Headlines are just linkbait that an editor came up with, and they
are not worth consideration.

The actual story isn't about "ending obesity", it's about a treatment that may
replace or reduce the need for a dangerous and expensive surgery for some
morbidly obese people. The people interviewed _don 't_ offer it as a solution
to Americans Being Fat, just as a treatment for very severe, life-threatening
cases of obesity.

And that's a Hell of a thing, if it pans out! I had a friend who would have
died without a gastric bypass, and he had to fight his insurance company to
get it covered. The bypass wasn't the only thing he had to do to lose and keep
off his weight, of course, but it was critical. If something like this implant
had been available, he could have had an easier time getting it and avoided a
lot of surgical risk. For him and anyone in his position, that would be a huge
win.

~~~
vidarh
The actual story also repeatedly talks about how one of the "problems" with
the device is that contrary to current surgeries they expect it might be used
by a lot more people. Millions is mentioned:

> Baker’s concern, though, is that the Full Sense Device might work too well.
> If it’s effective, easy, and cheap, what’s to stop people from abusing it?

>“When this hits the market, there’s not going to be just 10,000 to 15,000
people having it,” says Fred Walburn, president and sole employee of Full
Sense Device’s parent company, BFKW. “There’s going to be hundreds of
thousands. Millions per year.”

And while a journalist has a valid reason to complain if we criticise the
journalist for the title, they don't have a valid reason to complain if we
criticise the headline. The headline is there. It is part of the presentation.
It's not (likely) the journalists fault, but it's still an important part of
the overall product.

------
_cudgel
How about filling up on meat and vegetables, so there's no trick involved, and
you get the nutrition you need?

~~~
jonahx
As someone who has done this with a low calorie diet, I can tell you that it
helps, but only to a point. That is, you'll be less hungry on this kind of
diet while losing weight than on most others, but you'll still be hungry. And
you'll be plenty hungry if you're calorie restricting a lot.

~~~
_cudgel
I had this problem as well. Finally someone said to me "What the hell makes
you think you shouldn't be a little bit hungry all the time?"

That hunger is the drive that pushes me to do things now. I don't want to
fully satisfy it; I use it. I think a lot of us modern humans could stand to
learn that. It definitely helped me.

~~~
Jare
You may be causing your mind and body undue stress and anxiety - please be
careful and watch out for symptoms like mood swings or odd sleep patterns.

------
radley
HN needs a buzzfeed filter.

~~~
ars
What kind of filter? Avoid buzzfeed, or more of it?

Because this article is perfectly fine, so writing it off because of the url
is silly (if that's what you meant, it was not clear).

~~~
radley
It's a weight loss scheme.

~~~
scribu
If you're trying to imply that it's dishonest (that's what I thought when I
read "scheme" in this context), please explain why you've reached the
conclusion that it's dishonest.

