Weight loss induced by deep transcranial magnetic stimulation in obesity: A randomized, double‐blind, sham‐controlled study

Aim To test the hypothesis that deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS) reduces food craving and causes weight loss via neuromodulation. Materials and methods This pilot study was designed as a randomized, double‐blind, sham‐controlled study. A total of 33 obese people (nine men, 24 women, mean age 48.1 ± 10.6 years, body mass index [BMI] 36.9 ± 4.7 kg/m2) were randomized and completed the study: 13 participants underwent a 5‐week treatment with high‐frequency (HF) dTMS (18 Hz; HF group), 10 were treated with low‐frequency (LF) dTMS (1 Hz; LF group), and 10 were sham‐treated (sham group). Food craving, and metabolic and neuro‐endocrine variables were evaluated at baseline, after the 5‐week treatment, and at follow‐up visits (1 month, 6 months, 1 year after the end of treatment). Results The mixed‐model analysis for repeated measures showed a significant interaction of time and groups for body weight (P = 0.001) and BMI (P = 0.001), with a significant body weight (−7.83 ± 2.28 kg; P = 0.0009) and BMI (−2.83 ± 0.83, P = 0.0009) decrease in the HF versus the sham group. A decreasing trend in food craving in the HF versus the LF and sham groups (P = 0.073) was observed. A significant improvement of metabolic and physical activity variables was found (P