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Gastric Balloon Procedure – Nurse’s Life Changed After Losing 22lbs

After giving birth to her first child, Carole Theobald, a 44 years old nurse’s weight started to increase gradually. Three months ago, Carole was 14 stones in weight and 18 in size. She decided to go for a gastric balloon procedure where a balloon filled with saline was fitted into her stomach and she successfully loses 22 lbs in just 10 weeks.

Carole is one of the people who have experienced failed diets. The gastric balloon, sitting inside her stomach now gives her a feeling that she is not hungry. She feels full all the time and thus does not get an urge to eat every now and then. The balloon which is designed to reduce the amount of food a person consume managed to change her eating habits, thus lead to her successful weight loss.

Talking about her experience, Carole said that even after trying the Weight Watchers and the Slimming World program, she managed to lose only 6 lbs. She added that after dieting so hard and putting so much effort, she was really disheartening to find that her weight was the same at the end of a week. Ultimately, she turn back to food and put back the pounds that she managed to lose.

Carole had set a target for herself to lose at least 2 ½ stones and she also knew that this can only be possible if she makes efforts to change her eating habits. The gastric balloon that has been inserted in her stomach costs £4000 and was fitted into her stomach with the help of an endoscopy. Due to this, she feels constantly full and the amount of food that she needs to consume gets reduced significantly.

Carole said that the procedure of inserting the balloon was absolutely painless, it took less than half an hour for the entire process and she was discharged from the Nucleus Healthcare within 2 hours. Just to be on the safe side, she took 2 days off from her work and within 7 days, she was completely normal. During this time, she also lost 9 lbs which is a thing she could have never imagined. Every week, she has been experiencing a loss in her weight and she is so happy with her new 14 size and 12 stone weights. She now set her new target to be 11 stone 6 lb in weight and her aim does not seems to be too far away.

Dr. Manny Srivastava, a consultant gastroenterologist and the founder of the Nucleus Healthcare said that the gastric balloon is a completely safe and effective way to lose weight. It is suitable for patient above 18 years old and has a body mass index of at least 27. He explained that, there are 3 types of people who undergo a gastric balloon procedure:

1. People who are concerned about health problems that may occur due to being overweight.

2. People who want weight loss to become attractive and

3. People who want weight loss for medical purposes.

Dr. Srivastava added that recently a patient came for a gastric balloon procedure because she needed to lose weight to get a hip replacement surgery. Within 3 weeks, she lost 17 kgs and later this year, she is going to have her surgery.

Women Are More Susceptible To Migraines

According to a recent study, approximately 75% of people who are suffering from migraine are women. As per the US Department of Health & Human Services, more than half of migraine incidences in women occur just before, after or during a woman’s menstrual period.

Sometimes, migraines take place when the brain’s constricting blood vessels becomes the cause of recurring and intense vascular headaches. While some of the female migraine sufferers experience pain throughout their cycles, migraines related to menstrual cycles can be one of the triggers of the painful condition.

Researchers have also cited the hormones which are responsible for such a condition. Before the beginning of a woman’s menstrual cycle, the progesterone and estrogen levels sharply drop and this initiates migraine attacks. After all, estrogen is responsible for controlling chemicals in the brain which affect sensation of pain in women.

Environment as well as genetics plays an important role in the condition, as in all other neurological diseases. One of the environmental factors is estrogen but genetic predisposition can also be firmly established. While the role of hormones is not perfectly clear, recent studies have revealed that females suffering from migraines have less chances of developing breast cancer.

Because breast cancer has been linked to a higher exposure to the estrogen through lifetime, it makes sense that migraines occur when estrogen levels drop.