I have a trick vagus nerve that, when spooked, causes me to faint like one of those pygmy goats. I've fainted from laughing, hiccuping, swallowing an Advil Liqui-Gel, taking a drink of very carbonated soda, and also, from sitting in the front row of a very loud concert (I don't even know what THAT was about). I can't swallow a pill or laugh too much while driving, because I'm afraid I'll pass out and crash. Once, my father-in-law farted and it was so hilarious that the next thing I knew I was on the ground with a huge bump on my head from where it hit the tiled floor.

So... yeah, the whole vagus nerve thing is kind of a monkey on my back, quite honestly, so any tweaking of said nerve, like this new VBLOC implant currently being touted as the next greatest weight-loss surgery was kind of interesting. The implant acts kind of like a reverse pacemaker: instead of restarting your heart, it sends out electrical impulses to stymie your vagus nerve, which, in theory, curbs your hunger. It's in clinical studies right now, but before you sign up, check out this investigative reporting from blogger Sue W:

I followed the studies on gastric pacing and even interviewed some patients. Unfortunately the results, weight-loss wise, were extremely poor. One patient, out of the three studies in one area, lost 70 lbs. One patient lost 100 lbs. but became very ill from several things including cancer, partially from the side effects of the device and had to have it removed. The rest in the three studies either lost very little weight or no weight at all. All of the patients except the two affore mentioned ended up getting other procedures, either gastric bypass or lap band, which they all, down to the man, found not only far more effective with weight loss but also, far more comfortable than the gastric pacer.

Blogger Sean Amore weighs in too:

It is another great option for people to try to use in their battle against obesity, but--a simple question for all the morbidly obese out there that are reading--when is the last time you ate because you were truly hungry and stopped the minute you felt you were not truly hungry anymore? I've checked my extensive food logs and it turns out the last time I did that was November 7, 1979. At the age of THREE years old.

I mean COME ON. The procedure will supposedly help people lose as much as 20 percent of their excess weight in the first six months following the procedure but--uh--what then!? Six months, huh?! Sounds like the amount of time the average diet might last before people get bored, the weight loss slows and the excercise drops off, the pounds come back on and the search resumes for real help.

Ooooh, not so rosy a picture (Melting Mama and even this doc is skeptical). What do you think? Would you try this implant as an alternative to gastric bypass or laproscopic banding?