Anorexia Nervosa News and Research RSS Feed - Anorexia Nervosa News and Research

A person with anorexia nervosa, often called anorexia, has an intense fear of gaining weight. Someone with anorexia thinks about food a lot and limits the food she or he eats, even though she or he is too thin. Anorexia is more than just a problem with food. It's a way of using food or starving oneself to feel more in control of life and to ease tension, anger, and anxiety. Most people with anorexia are female. While anorexia mostly affects girls and women (85 - 95 percent of anorexics are female), it can also affect boys and men. It was once thought that women of color were shielded from eating disorders by their cultures, which tend to be more accepting of different body sizes. It is not known for sure whether African American, Latina, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian and Alaska Native people develop eating disorders because American culture values thin people. People with different cultural backgrounds may develop eating disorders because it’s hard to adapt to a new culture (a theory called “culture clash”). The stress of trying to live in two different cultures may cause some minorities to develop their eating disorders.

Lightlake Therapeutics announces Phase II clinical trial results of nasal spray treatment for BED

Lightlake Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing addiction treatments based on its expertise in opioid antagonists, announced today that results of the Company's Phase II clinical trial of its nasal spray treatment for Binge Eating Disorder were presented at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco by Professor Hannu Alho, MD, professor of addiction medicine at the University of Helsinki and Principal Investigator for the trial. [More]
Research finds number of links between dental health and overall health

Research finds number of links between dental health and overall health

If the eyes are the windows to your soul, then your mouth is the gateway to your overall health. Research has found a surprising number of links between the state of your dental health and your overall health. [More]

Study shows people with SE-AN can be treated with outpatient treatment programme

Patients with the most severe and dangerous form of chronic anorexia are more likely to make a significant improvement towards recovery and stay in therapy if traditional psychological treatments are re-focused from weight gain to quality of life issues. [More]
Severe anorexia nervosa improves with modification of standard goals, treatment methods

Severe anorexia nervosa improves with modification of standard goals, treatment methods

A new, multinational randomized clinical trial has found that patients with severe and enduring anorexia nervosa will not only stick with treatments but also make significant improvements with just a slight modification of the standard goals and methods of treatment. [More]

Study suggests that biology plays role in eating disorders

Female rats are much more likely to binge eat than male rats, according to new research that provides some of the strongest evidence yet that biology plays a role in eating disorders. [More]
Non-invasive brain surgery: an interview with Dr Andres Lozano, University of Toronto

Non-invasive brain surgery: an interview with Dr Andres Lozano, University of Toronto

MR-guided focused ultrasound is a new technique that involves focusing 1024 beams of ultrasound through the skull to a focal point in the brain, very much like using the sun and a magnifying glass to burn a hole in a sheet of paper. [More]
New initiative launched to create more effective ED therapies based on brain imaging studies

New initiative launched to create more effective ED therapies based on brain imaging studies

Current treatments for anorexia and bulimia nervosa, which afflict an estimated 10 to 24 million Americans, are often limited and ineffective. [More]
New report addresses presence of cerebral abnormalities in eating disorders

New report addresses presence of cerebral abnormalities in eating disorders

A report from the University of Freiburg that is published in one of the last issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics address the presence of cerebral abnormalities in eating disorders. [More]
APS to present scientific abstracts at Experimental Biology 2013

APS to present scientific abstracts at Experimental Biology 2013

The American Physiological Society is one of six scientific societies sponsoring the meeting Experimental Biology 2013, being held April 20-24, 2013 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, in Boston, Mass. [More]
DBS helps anorexia patients achieve and maintain improvements in body weight, mood and anxiety

DBS helps anorexia patients achieve and maintain improvements in body weight, mood and anxiety

In a world first, a team of researchers at the Krembil Neuroscience Centre and the University Health Network have shown that Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in patients with chronic, severe and treatment-resistant Anorexia Nervosa (anorexia) helps some patients achieve and maintain improvements in body weight, mood, and anxiety. [More]

Anorexics’ brains are structurally and functionally altered

When people see pictures of bodies, a whole range of brain regions are active. This network is altered in women with anorexia nervosa. In a functional magnetic resonance imaging study, two regions that are important for the processing of body images were functionally more weakly connected in anorexic women than in healthy women. [More]
Eating disorders common in adolescents attending emergency department

Eating disorders common in adolescents attending emergency department

A significant percentage of adolescents attending hospital emergency response departments have eating disorders, suggest results from a US study. [More]

Eating disorders linked with poor decision-making skills

Spanish study results demonstrate that individuals with eating disorders may be worse decision-makers than those without such conditions. [More]

Psychiatric disorders reduce patient fecundity, especially in men

Findings published in the Archives of General Psychiatry show that patients with schizophrenia, autism, and anorexia nervosa have significantly fewer children compared with the general population, suggesting these conditions are under strong selection to be removed from the population. [More]
ER could be a good place to identify undiagnosed eating disorders among teens

ER could be a good place to identify undiagnosed eating disorders among teens

Could the emergency room be a good place to spot undiagnosed eating disorders among teens, and help steer them to treatment? A new study from the University of Michigan suggests that could be the case. [More]

New bulimia nervosa therapy for patients with eating disorders

An eating disorders research team led by Stephen Wonderlich, a Director of Clinical Research at the Neuropsychiatric Research Institute (NRI), has developed a successful bulimia nervosa therapy that can provide patients an alternative for treating this debilitating disorder. [More]
Thin ideal internalization: an interview with Jessica Suisman and Kelly Klump

Thin ideal internalization: an interview with Jessica Suisman and Kelly Klump

Thin-ideal internalization is the extent to which a person identifies with the cultural ideal that thinness is equivalent to attractiveness. [More]

People in creative professions are treated more often for mental illness

People in creative professions are treated more often for mental illness than the general population, there being a particularly salient connection between writing and schizophrenia. This according to researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, whose large-scale registry study is the most comprehensive ever in its field. [More]
Vulnerability to ‘thin ideal’ may be genetic

Vulnerability to ‘thin ideal’ may be genetic

Results from a study carried out in identical and nonidentical twins suggests that a woman’s risk for thin-ideal internalization may be genetic. [More]
Controversial activities of pro-anorexic bloggers may have benefits

Controversial activities of pro-anorexic bloggers may have benefits

A groundbreaking new research study from Indiana University suggests there may be benefits to the controversial activities of "pro-ana" bloggers, the online community for people with eating disorders. [More]