Tummy Bubble Becomes First Gastric-balloon Clinic in Massachusetts

SPRINGFIELD — Dr. Matthew Brackman announced he will be offering the new ReShape Integrated Dual Balloon System at his Tummy Bubble clinic in Springfield.

The ReShape Dual Balloon is inserted in the stomach during a short outpatient procedure, where it remains for six months, serving as built-in portion control so people may feel full and less hungry. It does not change or alter the natural anatomy of the stomach in any way.

“I selected the name [Tummy Bubble] to invoke the benign nature of the procedure. It is not surgery and typically takes 20 minutes using light anesthesia,” Brackman explained. “The balloon remains in the stomach for six months, but patients will benefit from a full year of support. This includes frequent in-office diet and exercise coaching sessions and access to the ReShape Patient Portal, an online resource that provides tools and information to help patients track weight loss, diet, and exercise, and an online community where they can interact with each other.”

In an FDA clinical study of 326 patients conducted at eight sites in the U.S., patients with ReShape experienced 2.3 times more excess weight loss at six months compared to those who had the diet and exercise program alone. In the clinical trial, patients lost up to 72 pounds in 12 months.

Brackman, a graduate of Tufts University and Boston University Medical School, is a bariatric and general surgeon practicing in Springfield and New York City. Since the late 1990s, while he built a résumé performing weight-loss surgery, he was still able to address only 5{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} of the population, and could not provide a durable weight-loss option for those with a body-mass index (BMI) under 40.

Clinically defined as having a BMI of more than 30, obesity can lead to numerous, serious health complications, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer. Typically, obesity surgery is allowed only for those whose BMI is 40 or greater. Yet, five times more people are in the BMI category of 30 to 40. These people also have a higher risk of death, as compared to normal-weight subjects, but until now had nothing but diet and exercise to help them lose weight.

“As the last sands of time run out on 2015, millions of Americans will resolve to lose weight,” Brackman said recently. “In 2016, for the first time in a long time, the majority will have a reliable option to which to look forward.”

For more information or to make an appointment with Brackman, call (844) 928-2253.