Exclusive Interview with Wang Bangmao, Director of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital: Scientific Research contributes to the Progress of Innovative Weight Loss Technology

"Obesity is a lifestyle disease, which is a major risk factor for many common chronic diseases, " said Professor Wang Bangmao, the director of the Gastroenterology Department of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital.

With a Doctor of Medicine degree, Professor Wang is a chief physician, Level-2 Professor (Professors in China fall into 4 levels) and doctoral supervisor. He is now director of the Gastroenterology Department of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, director of the Tianjin Institute of Digestive Diseases, director of the Tianjin Key Laboratory of Digestive Diseases, director of the Digestive Disease Quality Control Center of Tianjin Health and Family Planning Commission, chairman of the Digestive Endoscopy Society of Tianjin Medical Association, vice president of the Tianjin Physician Association, vice president of the Tian Anti-cancer Association, head of the Gastroenterology Project for the National and Tianjin Key Clinical Specialty Construction Programs, a core member of the Chinese Society of Gastroenterology, a core member of the Endoscopy Doctors Association, a core member of the Society of Digestive Diseases of Chinese Medical Association (CMA), deputy leader of the Esophagology Prevention and Treatment Group of Chinese Medical Association, a core member of the Digestive Disease Branch of ARATS, a core member of the Digestive Endoscopy Branch of CMA and head of the Gastropathy Prevention and Treatment Cooperative Group of CMA. At the same time, he is also an editorial board member of the Chinese Journal of Digestive Endoscopy, Chinese Journal of Digestion, Chinese Journal of Pancreatology, and Chinese Journal of Internal Medicine. Professor Wang has extensive academic achievements and clinical experience in endoscopic diagnosis and treatment of obesity, digestive disorders and other diseases.

The 2021 National Academic Conference of Minimally Invasive Endoscopic Weight Loss Procedures, sponsored by the National Clinical Research Center for Digestive Diseases, China Quality Association for Pharmaceuticals, and other authoritative institutions, was officially held in April 2021. During the conference, Professor Wang had a multidimensional discussion on the innovation of endoscopic weight loss technology with many experts from Grade-3 and Class-A hospitals. In addition, he also had an in-depth discussion with other experts on the innovative technology of "Gastric Bypass Stent System" currently developed in China. Professor Wang mentioned that currently there is a lack of good endoscopic weight loss treatments in China. He also said that fortunately, the "Gastric Bypass Stent System" is currently undergoing clinical trials in the Gastroenterology Department of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital and has obtained encouraging results. He is very confident that the technique will be marketed in the future and will benefit an enormous number of patients with metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes in China.

The following is the transcript of the interview:

Moderator: Hello, Director Wang, I am honored to invite you to participate in this interview. First of all, could you please give us a brief introduction to the current weight loss methods in China?
Director Wang: At present, there are many methods for weight loss in China.

For example, diet control and exercise are two of them, but these two methods are usually not very effective. There are also drugs for weight loss and one commonly used drug is metformin. However, as far as I know, there are still many issues with this method that need to be addressed. In addition, weight loss can be achieved through surgery, which is what we call the traditional bariatric surgery. This method has many disadvantages. For example, sleeve gastrectomy is aimed to reduce the volume of stomach through surgery to help the patient in losing weight, which causes damage to the human body structure. Personally, I don’t think such technique is physiology-friendly.

Therefore, I think that so far, there is still a lack of good weight loss products. Innovative technologies such as the "Gastric Bypass Stent System", which can be implanted by gastroscope, are worthy of the wait.

Moderator: Okay, thank you, Director Wang. As you mentioned, there are very few innovative techniques that are similar to the "Gastric Bypass Stent System" in China, so what do you think of its market prospects?

Director Wang: I think the "Gastric Bypass Stent System" has good prospects for a wide range of applications.

The rapid development of the economy has led to great changes in people's lifestyles and diets over the past 20 to 30 years in China. In the past, most people used to bike or walk to work, but now they drive. Our material life has been greatly enriched, which has also brought many problems, that is, the prevalence of obesity has increased rapidly in China and so is the proportion of people suffering from diabetes.

Obesity is not only a very serious social concern, but also a major medical problem. As I said before, there is currently a lack of good weight loss products in China. However, the "Gastric Bypass Stent System" can be implanted in the duodenum and upper jejunum through a gastroscope. Then, the chyme from the stomach passes through the chamber of the sleeve, while bile and pancreatic juice are isolated by the sleeve. Thus, bile and pancreatic juice converge together with the chyme at the remote of the jejunum, which reduces the digestion and absorption of food. After the implantation of the device, the patient can enjoy food with reduced food absorption. Meanwhile, food-induced pancreatic stimulation and secretion is significantly reduced. Therefore, it can be used to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes without affecting the life and work of the patient. So, I really hope that such product can be marketed early to bring benefits to vast number of patients with metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes in China.

Moderator: You just mentioned that the "Gastric Bypass Stent System" has good application prospects in the field of medical weight loss, so we would like to ask whether it is helpful for the improvement of the human endocrine system?

Director Wang: It is known that obesity and diabetes are often related. Especially type 2 diabetes mellitus is closely related to obesity, hypertension and aging. Therefore, diabetes often occurs alongside obesity.

At present, there is no particularly good solution for diabetes in China. Diabetes is usually controlled through diet and drugs, but there are still many problems to be solved. To my knowledge, after the Gastric Bypass Stent is implanted in the duodenum and upper jejunum, the chyme from the stomach passes through the chamber of the sleeve without contacting the mucosa of the duodenum and upper jejunum, thereby preventing some endocrine and metabolic processes to occur in the pancreas. There are some complex regulatory mechanisms here, which are hard to understand, so I will not talk about them. However, there is no doubt that this type of technique will have a very good therapeutic effect on diabetes, especially type 2 diabetes.

Moderator: OK, thank you. As an expert in the field of medical weight loss, gastroenterology and endoscopic treatment, do you think it is difficult to implant the "Gastric Bypass Stent System"? Does its operation require superb medical skills?

Director Wang: Gastrointestinal stent technology is quite mature. As far as I know, treatments such as esophageal stent, colon stent, small intestinal stent and biliary stent have been widely performed in China and around the world as early as over 30 years ago. Based on our past experience in stent implantation in the duodenum and the current experience in the implantation of the "Gastric Bypass Stent System", the technique is very simple and easy to operate, and will not cause too much pain to the patients.

Moderator: It is known that the clinical trial of the "Gastric Bypass Stent System" has been initiated in the Gastroenterology Department of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital and has obtained encouraging results. After it is marketed, are you willing to actively promote it?

Director Wang: I think, as physicians, we all have the responsibility and obligation to promote new and advanced techniques to patients. In my opinion, regardless of whether we are experts or inexperienced physicians, each of us has the responsibility to keep up with new technologies, take better care of patients, and put patients' interests first. We should realistically recommend the latest, most effective, and safest clinical technologies and drugs, examinations, and treatments to patients, and truthfully introduce products that are truly helpful to patients.

In my opinion, the best way to judge whether a technology is good or bad is to subject it to clinical trials, and those that can bring welfare and benefits to patients are good and worthy of promotion. The "Gastric Bypass Stent System" is currently undergoing clinical trials in China. After it is officially marketed, I am willing to recommend it to patients.
 
About Tianjin Medical University General Hospital

Founded in 1946, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital was one of the five large-scale central hospitals in China at that time. At the beginning of its establishment, many medical experts and renowned physicians from well-known medical colleges and universities such as Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Liaoning Medical University and Guiyang Medical College, as well as those who had ever studied abroad successively joined the hospital, laying a solid foundation for the development of it. After over 70 years of development, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital has become the medical center of Tianjin and a Grade-3 and Class-A general hospital that integrates medical treatment, teaching, scientific research, and disease prevention.

About Tongee

Founded in 2016, Tongee is a national innovative enterprise dedicated to the research and development of new approaches for the treatment of metabolic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver. We are currently committed to the research and development and the clinical research of the "Gastric Bypass Stent System", an innovative minimally invasive technology developed by Tongee for the treatment of metabolic diseases.