TO FREEZE OR NOT TO FREEZE
Recently one of my patients asked me a question about a new technology to "freeze" your fat away. I guess if you are going to do it, sounds like the summer would be a perfect time. First a few comments about NEW research into fat cells.
I think we all know America is obese. It is estimated 66% of ALL Americans are overweight or obese. Fat cells are living dynamic structures in our bodies. Fat cells produce in excess of 100 hormones that help to regulate our bodily functions and 2 of the more important ones are adiponectine & Leptin. For a long time it was felt the number of fat cells in our bodies was constant but we now know that about 10% of our fat cells die each year and are replaced. Fat cells are tough and among the largest cells in our body. They can balloon up to 64 times their normal size. A well conditioned i.e. lean person may have 40 billion fat cells where an obese person may have 120 billion.
There is GOOD FAT and BAD FAT. Hard to believe. The good fat is our subcutaneous fat i.e. just under your skin. The bad fat or visceral fat accumulates internally and around our organ and causes our blood pressure to rise along with our cholesterol and triglycerides. As we age we lose fat in our hands and back and eventually in our legs. It is felt that as we lose sub cut fat it becomes deposited around our organs as visceral fat. And of course if you consume more calories that you burn you may enhance that transition to visceral fat.
There are 2 new machines out to "freeze" fat. One is called the Zerona Laser and the other is the Zeltiq Cool Sculpting. With the Zeltiq you sit in a chair and the fatty area is sucked into a machine that freezes the area. They say it is not very painful and the session takes about an hour. Usually there are several treatments over a span of 2-3 weeks. The end result can take several months to appear. The cost? Usually EACH treatment is $1500.-$3000.00. This machine is recommended for discrete bundles of fat. They say in studies up to 3 years it has not reappeared. Each Love Handle would be one treatment session.
The rival to the Zeltiq is the Zerona laser which doesn't kill the fat cells. It merely creates "pore" in the fat cells which allows the fatty content in the cells to leak out. With this device, the patient lies on the table and the machine rotates around the hips, waist and thighs. The treatment lasts just under an hour. Usually there are 3 treatments a week for 2 weeks. The cost is $1800.-$3000.00 total and results are seen supposedly in 2 weeks. In a study of about 567 patients they lost 1.5 inches off the waist, 1-2 inches off of the hips and .7 or so off each hip. So in the end is it worth it? Only time will tell. A lot more studying needs to be done.
I think we all know America is obese. It is estimated 66% of ALL Americans are overweight or obese. Fat cells are living dynamic structures in our bodies. Fat cells produce in excess of 100 hormones that help to regulate our bodily functions and 2 of the more important ones are adiponectine & Leptin. For a long time it was felt the number of fat cells in our bodies was constant but we now know that about 10% of our fat cells die each year and are replaced. Fat cells are tough and among the largest cells in our body. They can balloon up to 64 times their normal size. A well conditioned i.e. lean person may have 40 billion fat cells where an obese person may have 120 billion.
There is GOOD FAT and BAD FAT. Hard to believe. The good fat is our subcutaneous fat i.e. just under your skin. The bad fat or visceral fat accumulates internally and around our organ and causes our blood pressure to rise along with our cholesterol and triglycerides. As we age we lose fat in our hands and back and eventually in our legs. It is felt that as we lose sub cut fat it becomes deposited around our organs as visceral fat. And of course if you consume more calories that you burn you may enhance that transition to visceral fat.
There are 2 new machines out to "freeze" fat. One is called the Zerona Laser and the other is the Zeltiq Cool Sculpting. With the Zeltiq you sit in a chair and the fatty area is sucked into a machine that freezes the area. They say it is not very painful and the session takes about an hour. Usually there are several treatments over a span of 2-3 weeks. The end result can take several months to appear. The cost? Usually EACH treatment is $1500.-$3000.00. This machine is recommended for discrete bundles of fat. They say in studies up to 3 years it has not reappeared. Each Love Handle would be one treatment session.
The rival to the Zeltiq is the Zerona laser which doesn't kill the fat cells. It merely creates "pore" in the fat cells which allows the fatty content in the cells to leak out. With this device, the patient lies on the table and the machine rotates around the hips, waist and thighs. The treatment lasts just under an hour. Usually there are 3 treatments a week for 2 weeks. The cost is $1800.-$3000.00 total and results are seen supposedly in 2 weeks. In a study of about 567 patients they lost 1.5 inches off the waist, 1-2 inches off of the hips and .7 or so off each hip. So in the end is it worth it? Only time will tell. A lot more studying needs to be done.
Labels: Freezing fat, Zeltiq laser, Zerona laser
posted by Unknown at
10:21 AM
2 Comments:
Thanks Dr. Brueck, for the time and effort you spent investigating this Fat Freezing procedure. It's nice to meet a doctor that communicates so effectively with his patients and cares enough to check into the latest methods.
Thanks for great information you write it very clean. I am very lucky to get this tips from you
CoolSculpting by Zeltique
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