http://www.foodconsumer.org/777/8/Fat-busting_laser_may_help_cellulite_acne_heart_disease.shtml April 10 (foodconsumer.org)- American scientists have developed a new tool to fight fat - a high intensity laser beam. This beam, which originates from a machine called a free-electron laser (FEL), targets and melts fat under the skin and could be the best weapon to fight heart disease, cellulite and acne.
This path breaking laser technique has been devised by researchers at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. Using this technique it is possible to target and melt fat without causing any adverse effects on the overlying skin.
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Dr Anderson is hopeful that the laser treatment could eventually replace the currently available treatment for acne, which uses a drug called isotretinoin (trade name Accutane). This particular drug has a number of adverse effects, most notably the high incidence of birth defects in children whose mothers have used the drug in pregnancy.
Dr. Anderson is also hoping that the treatment will work in diseases, which have a high degree of lipid-rich tissues like atherosclerosis, the leading cause of heart attacks and strokes. Atherosclerosis is the deposition of fatty plaques in blood vessels, which could be fatal when they rupture.