Orlando:Studies to test whether fat dissolving body treatments work are to be carried out by the US cosmetic surgeons body, the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS).

The decision to hold a double-blind placebo study follows the increasing popularity of treatments such as mesotherapy in which vitamins and other substances are given in multi-injections and more recently another treatment, which gained popularity in Brazil, known as Lipodissolve, in which a substance only medically approved for reducing blood cholesterol was injected into fatty areas. The latter has been banned for use in beauty treatments in most parts of Europe and the US.

ASAPS wants to determine if these practices are safe and work, it said at the annual meeting of the Aesthetic Society in Orlando, Fla.

Mesotherapy was developed as a separate medical specialty in France in the early 1950s, and many mesotherapy centers are opening in the United States.

The treatment involves the injection of various compounds into the skin in order to break down fat cells, but the absence of proper protocols and regulation of this therapy may put patients at risk. The goal of the study is to provide doctors and patients with more specific and standardized protocols, as well as more information about the possible risks and benefits of this therapy.

Dr Mark Jewell, President of ASAP said: “Our goal is to provide physicians and their patients with the information they need to make good decisions. Currently, we cannot endorse the injection of phosphatidylcholine, sodium deoxycholate, or any drugs, vitamins, plant extracts or hormones into subcutaneous fat as practiced in mesotherapy/Lipodissolve treatments, because we don’t have enough clinical data or FDA approval to support their use.”

The study is designed by the Aesthetic Society and funded by the Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation. The findings are expected to be published in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, the peer-reviewed journal of the ASAPS.