"I've felt fat all my life, really," Michaels says.
He topped out at 320 pounds.
"I really was just up against a wall. I was praying daily. I didn't know where to turn," Michaels says
Then, he found Dr. Robert Lustig.
"Everyone in the world seems to think that obesity is one problem, you know, you eat too much, exercise too little and it couldn't be further from the truth," says Robert Lustig, M.D., an endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco.
Dr. Lustig says the vagus nerve, which tells the brain when the body's full, plays a big part in obesity.
"Every single thing the vagus nerve does is designed to get energy into your fat cells," Dr. Lustig says.
He's testing an easy-on-the patient surgery called a laparoscopic vagotomy where he actually cuts the vagus nerve.
"The severe hunger that many obese patients report seems to be just completely obviated - it goes away completely," Dr. Lustig says.
An early study shows the 20 minute procedure led to an average 18 percent excess weight lost.
"The weight loss that the patients have achieved appears to be durable and we're very happy about that," Dr. Lustig says.
Michaels has lost more than 100 pounds since having the procedure nearly two years ago.
"Definitely life-saving. I think I added at least 10 to 20 years to my life," Michaels says. "It's a whole new life -- a whole new lease on life and at age 56, that's pretty good."
And after a lifetime of big clothes, Michaels is proud to finally shed that image.
Not only does the procedure have fewer side effects than gastric bypass, but it's cheaper, too! Bypass surgery costs between $25,000 and $50,000, while this new procedure would cost between $5,000 and $10,000. The procedure does not cause the massive weight loss patients report after gastric bypass, but Dr. Lustig says it typically does cause more weight loss than weight-loss drugs. This technique is still being studied and not yet widely available.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Phyllis Brown
University of California, San Francisco
Public Relations
phyllis.brown@ucsf.edu
