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FDA okays Zeltiq cooling device as fat-fighter

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Patient 1 before CoolSculpting treatments, on left, and several weeks afterwards, on right.

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Patient 2 before CoolSculpting treatments, on left, and several weeks afterwards, on right. (Photos courtesy of Dr. Christopher Zachary)


COLD VS. FAT

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the CoolSculpting device from Zeltiq for use in shrinking “love handles” and small bulges of fat on the belly.

It is a non-invasive alternative for patients who otherwise would consider liposuction.

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CoolSculpting device (Photo courtesy of Zeltiq company)

The cooling technique has been available as a fat-fighting treatment for almost a year, but until now the FDA had only given its permission for it to be marketed as a cooling method during medical treatments.

Doctors are allowed to prescribe any medically appropriate uses of FDA-approved technology, so physicians such as Dr. Christopher Zachary, chairman of the UCI Department of Dermatology, had begun to use the Zeltiq device as a fat-fighter.

With the new FDA action, it’s likely to become more widely accepted. The  company has already begun promoting the device under the name “CoolSculpting.”

In clinical trials conducted as of late last year, patients treated with the Zeltiq device averaged about a 22 to 25 percent reduction in fat in love handles and abdomen.

“It chills the fat to about 5 degrees Centigrade. This is enough to cause frozen crystalline formation within the fat cells,” Zachary said. “Keep them like this for 30-60 minutes and this induces ‘programmed cell death’ a gradual process whereby the fat cells just quietly disappear.”

“It’s essentially painless, non-invasive, and predictable,” he said. No anesthesia is needed.

In a visit to the doctor’s office, CoolSculpting patients lie on a treatment table for an hour with a vacuum-like suction cup attached to their side.

Because fat cells are more sensitive to cold than other types of cells, they gradually die from the Zeltiq treatment and the body removes the dead fat cells over a period of two to six weeks. Treatments cost about $800.

The machine is produced by the company formerly known as Zeltiq Aesthetics, based in Pleasanton, Calif. The technology was developed by doctors affiliated with Harvard Medical School.

For more about the Zeltiq device, including one patient’s experience with it, see the blog post “Lipo rival Zeltiq aims to freeze away fat.”

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