Weight loss with a balloon

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The balloon is put into the patient's stomach. The "intra-gastric balloon" could be a quick and painless method for some people to lose up to 2kg per week, without going under the knife. More than three million Australians are obese. That is one in every seven people and the figure could double in just 20 years. Imagine a simple 20-minute procedure that took the pain out of dieting and kept the weight off, without a surgeon's knife. Peter Condilias is fed up with being a bigger person. When the scales topped 137kg, he realised it was time to act. "I've always been a pretty big bloke," Peter said."I just slowly, slowly put on the kilos and you know, once those scales keep ticking up, you eventually say to yourself 'oh, that's enough'."He chose the intra-gastric balloon, a non-invasive procedure designed to suppress the appetite. The theory is that less hunger means less food and more weight lost. Now, nine months later, Peter is 22kg lighter and is a new man."Before, I used to eat a whole rump steak, a whole plate of chips, and after that a whole bowl of salad," he said."Now I eat this much meat[indicating a small amount], with that much salad, and just a couple of chips."And he says he feels full. In less a year, Dr George Marinos from Gastric Balloon Australia has placed more than 60 of these silicon spheres. But he warns it is not a quick fix."The main aim of this program is to reduce the health risks associated with obesity," Dr Marinos said.