There is an alarming increase in the incidences of obesity across the world. As the burden of obesity continues to rise, scientists have been working tremendously to address this public health challenge.
A team of engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has created a capsule that vibrates in your tummy and mimicking fullness. According to reports, this capsule can potentially curb cravings by 40 percent. This “high-tech tummy trick” could help us eat less and shrink our waistlines, one buzz at a time.
The researchers maintain that if more research suggests this technology could be safely used in humans, such a pill might offer a minimally invasive way to treat obesity.
The Vibe pill, better known as the Vibrating Ingestible BioElectronic Stimulator, sends a signal to the hypothalamus in the brain. It increases levels of various hormones that give rise to a feeling of fullness and decreases those that result in feelings of hunger.
The vibrations are caused by a battery in the swallowed capsule and it can be triggered when stomach acid dissolves a membrane around the pill, or by a timer.
“This approach offers an alternative and potentially synergistic approach to other therapies available today,” said Giovanni Traverso, an associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an author of the research as quoted by The Guardian.
The pill does not involve the use of drugs which can carry significant side-effects, he added.
Interestingly, the pharma major behind Wegovy, Novo Nordisk, is one of the funders of the research into the vibrating pill.