What Can Go Wrong with Vagal Nerve Blockers for Weight Loss?

While the VBLOC Maestro System may work for some people, it is definitely not for everyone who needs to lose weight. The main reason to be cautious with this device or any other procedure involving the vagus nerve is that this nerve does more than just to control how fast food passes through the stomach.

The vagus nerve is involved in:

• The expansion of the stomach to receive more food. At your first meal of the day, it is possible to eat so much that you get indigestion.
• Stomach contractions that break the food into smaller particles. If your stomach is partially paralyzed, large chunks of food may pass into the bowel and cause constipation and/or inflammation.
• Release of gastric acid to digest food. Along with the release of gastric acid, the stomach produces intrinsic factor, which releases vitamin B12 from food. Low stomach acid can also result in incomplete release of minerals and vitamins from food, and, ironically, encourage the growth of bacteria involved in peptic ulcer disease.
• Emptying of stomach contents into the small intestine. Failure to pass food into the lower digestive tract, or gastroparesis, can result in significant stomach pain.
• Secretion of pancreatic enzymes that allow the digestion and absorption of dietary fat. When fat remains in digested food, the result is especially foul-smelling fecal matter than floats in the toilet bowl, resisting flushing. Lack of pancreatic enzymes can also interfere with absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, as well as beta-carotene, lycopene, and lutein.
• Sensations of fullness and satisfaction. Your stomach will feel fuller longer after installation of the VBLOC, but it may not release as much cholecystikinin, the hormone that tells your brain that you have actually been comforted by eating of comfort food.

Another important consideration in deciding whether to have the Maestro system implanted is the stability of the device. VBLOC is not the first vagal nerve blocker used to encourage weight loss. Older devices have sometimes had a tendency to migrate underneath the skin. In at least one case, a vagal nerve blocker migrated from the abdomen to the buttocks and had to be removed in emergency surgery.

The clinical trials of the device resulted, on average, of 10 percent weight loss. Some who weighs a whopping 440 pounds (200 kilos), for example, might reasonably expect to lose 44 pounds (20 kilos) in the first year the device has been implanted. Weight loss from vagal nerve blocking devices is much less than weight loss from gastric sleeve, gastric bypass, and old-style vagotomy, and there have been no long-term studies to determine how long weight loss is maintained.

See Also: Can You Be Healthy And Obese?

All of this is not to say that the VBLOC Maestro cannot work for you. Working with a doctor who has long-term experience in following up weight loss surgery, you may succeed in losing weight with Maestro when you have failed with diets and other medical interventions. Do not expect, however, for the vagus nerve blocker to do all the work for you. Maestro may make it easier to follow a diet, but it will not make it unnecessary to follow a diet.