Clips that “tickle” a nerve in the ear could be the key to losing weight. Research suggests that touching the vagus nerve with a weak electrical current sends a signal to the brain that the stomach is full, thereby curbing appetite.
A study is currently underway in Russia involving 150 overweight people to see if it can help them lose weight without medication or surgery.
More than one in four adults in England are considered obese and a further 38 percent are considered overweight.
Treatment usually begins with advice on diet and increasing physical activity.
A new generation of weight-loss drugs — like Wegovy — are also being prescribed to some overweight people, meaning people with a BMI over 30 who have at least one obesity-related condition, such as type 2 diabetes.
Clips that “tickle” a nerve in the ear could be the secret to losing weight by signaling the brain that the stomach is full, thereby curbing appetite
The medication – given as injections once a week – slows the movement of food in the intestines, so you feel full for longer.
Currently, around 6,500 people undergo obesity surgery every year, according to the NHS.
This usually involves either placing a band around the stomach to reduce the amount of food it can absorb, or a gastric bypass, in which the top of the stomach is connected to the small intestine, thereby reducing the amount of food absorbed from food Calories are reduced.
But ear tickle therapy might be a simpler approach. A clip is attached to each ear to stimulate a branch of the vagus nerve.
This is an important nerve that runs through the chest and neck to the brain and is involved in controlling everything from taste and swallowing to controlling heart rate, breathing and digestion.
More than one in four adults in England are considered obese and a further 38 percent are considered overweight
In recent years, vagus nerve stimulation has become an effective treatment for epilepsy and depression.
And animal studies have found that stimulators that target the vagus nerve can trigger weight loss by sending signals that trick the brain into thinking the stomach is full.
The clips tested are worn on both ears and connected to a battery-powered generator on the waistband. They attach to the auricle – the shell-like cavity in the middle of the ear that leads to the ear canal, where a small branch of the vagus nerve is located just under the skin.
The current study, conducted by scientists at Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, involves obese men and women.
Half receive ten minutes of ear stimulation every day before main meals for six months.
The remaining groups receive a sham treatment in which they also wear the clamps, but no electricity is passed through them to stimulate the nerve.
Volunteers will be monitored to see how much weight they lose during the six-month experiment.
The results of the study could be available this year.
Dr. Duncan Banks, a neuroscientist at the Open University, said ear stimulation was worth investigating as a way to combat obesity because it was non-invasive and appeared to be safe.
“But it’s not yet clear exactly how it works, and at the moment it’s definitely not a replacement for other obesity therapies,” he said.
