650 million adults worldwide suffer from obesity. New Zealand-based company Dentalslim Diet Control believes they have created the world’s “first weight-loss device to help fight the global obesity epidemic.”
The magnetic locking bolt contraption mimics the torture devices of the Middle Ages. While wearing it, the user is restricted to a liquid-only diet with their mouth’s mobility being reduced to 1/16 of an inch.
Professor Paul Brunton, pro-vice-chancellor at the New Zealand University of Otago’s Division of Health Sciences,boasts that the best feature of the device is that it is “a non-invasive, reversible, economical and attractive alternative to surgical procedures,” and can be easily removed at any event of a special splurge on a non-liquid meal or an emergency.
A New Zealand trial resulted in users losing an average of 14 pounds in two weeks but the patients did report that they were “uncomfortable and unable to speak with a sense that life, in general, was less satisfying.”
Social media was shocked by the rigorous invention with one Twitter user stating, “And this, kids, is why ethics needs to be taught in science.” Molecular biologist Dr. Raven tweeted, “Delete this. Delete the research team. Delete everything.”
The official University of Otago account tweeted out a statement including, “To clarify, the intention of the device is not intended as a quick or long-term weight-loss tool; rather it is aimed to assist people who need to undergo surgery and who cannot have the surgery until they have lost weight.”
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