New Laser Claims Non-Invasive Weight Loss

The Zerona laser looks a little bit like the villainous martian tripods in “War of the Worlds,” but rather than blasting your entire body into charbroiled atoms, its four laser arms melt away excess fat.

And instead of a strong-armed surgeon and his trusty cannula removing the leftovers, macrophages do the dirty work, sucking down a liquid lipid orgy of burgers and fries. 
 
Company-sponsored data supports the notion that it works, according to Ryan Maloney, Ph.D. Dr. Maloney is a patent holder on the 635-nm laser and medical director of Erchonia, manufacturer of the laser.  He presented the recently published data at the annual meeting of the American Association of Cosmetic Surgery.
 
The sham-controlled study included 67 patients, none of which were obese. Many were just right at the overweight line, with a mean body mass index of 26 kg/m2. Still, after six 40-minute treatments, 22 of the 35 active patients met the criteria for success (a mean combined loss of at least 3 inches in circumference from the waist, hip, and thighs). Only two patients in the sham group had comparable results (Laser Surg. Med. 2009;799-809). 

The program didn’t include any special diet or exercise recommendations. Dr. Maloney, and the representatives at the Zerona exhibit booth, claimed the weight lost was a direct result of laser exposure. They showed photo micrographs of its effect on human fat cells. Before treatment, the round little globules were taught and tightly filled with lipids. After exposure, they looked like popped party balloons, wrinkled and collapsed, all their fatty filling leaked away.
 
How was this accomplished? In vivo studies show that the short wavelength laser creates a transient pore in the cell membrane. The contents disperse outward into the interstitial space and the immune system takes over, Dr. Maloney said. None of the patients have shown any related increase in blood lipids, he added.
 
The concept might not be as far-fetched as it seems. Laser-assisted liposuction (LAL) has been around for a few years now. The dual-headed instrument slips under and over the skin, with a laser above and a suction cannula below. The laser deposits its heat energy in the adipose layer—sparing the skin—and the cannula pierces and sucks out the liquified fat. The difference here is that LAL destroys the adipocyte. Zerona supposedly leaves it alive and, thus, the cells are capable of reinflating if patients tank up on goodies (or decline the repeat treatments urged on the Zerona Web site).
 
What’s the bottom line? Zerona is the first treatment to claim total noninvasive weight loss—other than shutting your mouth to that second piece of pie.
 
Michele G. Sullivan
Mid-Atlantic Bureau

_{Photo courtesy Zerona via www.myzerona.com}

The Zerona laser looks a little bit like the villainous martian tripods in “War of the Worlds,” but rather than blasting your entire body into charbroiled atoms, its four laser arms melt away excess fat.

And instead of a strong-armed surgeon and his trusty cannula removing the leftovers, macrophages do the dirty work, sucking down a liquid lipid orgy of burgers and fries. 
 
Company-sponsored data supports the notion that it works, according to Ryan Maloney, Ph.D. Dr. Maloney is a patent holder on the 635-nm laser and medical director of Erchonia, manufacturer of the laser.  He presented the recently published data at the annual meeting of the American Association of Cosmetic Surgery.
 
The sham-controlled study included 67 patients, none of which were obese. Many were just right at the overweight line, with a mean body mass index of 26 kg/m2. Still, after six 40-minute treatments, 22 of the 35 active patients met the criteria for success (a mean combined loss of at least 3 inches in circumference from the waist, hip, and thighs). Only two patients in the sham group had comparable results (Laser Surg. Med. 2009;799-809). 

The program didn’t include any special diet or exercise recommendations. Dr. Maloney, and the representatives at the Zerona exhibit booth, claimed the weight lost was a direct result of laser exposure. They showed photo micrographs of its effect on human fat cells. Before treatment, the round little globules were taught and tightly filled with lipids. After exposure, they looked like popped party balloons, wrinkled and collapsed, all their fatty filling leaked away.
 
How was this accomplished? In vivo studies show that the short wavelength laser creates a transient pore in the cell membrane. The contents disperse outward into the interstitial space and the immune system takes over, Dr. Maloney said. None of the patients have shown any related increase in blood lipids, he added.
 
The concept might not be as far-fetched as it seems. Laser-assisted liposuction (LAL) has been around for a few years now. The dual-headed instrument slips under and over the skin, with a laser above and a suction cannula below. The laser deposits its heat energy in the adipose layer—sparing the skin—and the cannula pierces and sucks out the liquified fat. The difference here is that LAL destroys the adipocyte. Zerona supposedly leaves it alive and, thus, the cells are capable of reinflating if patients tank up on goodies (or decline the repeat treatments urged on the Zerona Web site).
 
What’s the bottom line? Zerona is the first treatment to claim total noninvasive weight loss—other than shutting your mouth to that second piece of pie.
 
Michele G. Sullivan
Mid-Atlantic Bureau

_{Photo courtesy Zerona via www.myzerona.com}

The Zerona laser looks a little bit like the villainous martian tripods in “War of the Worlds,” but rather than blasting your entire body into charbroiled atoms, its four laser arms melt away excess fat.

And instead of a strong-armed surgeon and his trusty cannula removing the leftovers, macrophages do the dirty work, sucking down a liquid lipid orgy of burgers and fries. 
 
Company-sponsored data supports the notion that it works, according to Ryan Maloney, Ph.D. Dr. Maloney is a patent holder on the 635-nm laser and medical director of Erchonia, manufacturer of the laser.  He presented the recently published data at the annual meeting of the American Association of Cosmetic Surgery.
 
The sham-controlled study included 67 patients, none of which were obese. Many were just right at the overweight line, with a mean body mass index of 26 kg/m2. Still, after six 40-minute treatments, 22 of the 35 active patients met the criteria for success (a mean combined loss of at least 3 inches in circumference from the waist, hip, and thighs). Only two patients in the sham group had comparable results (Laser Surg. Med. 2009;799-809). 

The program didn’t include any special diet or exercise recommendations. Dr. Maloney, and the representatives at the Zerona exhibit booth, claimed the weight lost was a direct result of laser exposure. They showed photo micrographs of its effect on human fat cells. Before treatment, the round little globules were taught and tightly filled with lipids. After exposure, they looked like popped party balloons, wrinkled and collapsed, all their fatty filling leaked away.
 
How was this accomplished? In vivo studies show that the short wavelength laser creates a transient pore in the cell membrane. The contents disperse outward into the interstitial space and the immune system takes over, Dr. Maloney said. None of the patients have shown any related increase in blood lipids, he added.
 
The concept might not be as far-fetched as it seems. Laser-assisted liposuction (LAL) has been around for a few years now. The dual-headed instrument slips under and over the skin, with a laser above and a suction cannula below. The laser deposits its heat energy in the adipose layer—sparing the skin—and the cannula pierces and sucks out the liquified fat. The difference here is that LAL destroys the adipocyte. Zerona supposedly leaves it alive and, thus, the cells are capable of reinflating if patients tank up on goodies (or decline the repeat treatments urged on the Zerona Web site).
 
What’s the bottom line? Zerona is the first treatment to claim total noninvasive weight loss—other than shutting your mouth to that second piece of pie.
 
Michele G. Sullivan
Mid-Atlantic Bureau

_{Photo courtesy Zerona via www.myzerona.com}