Eating Disorders News and Research

Latest Eating Disorders News and Research

Starvation activates MAP Kinase through the muscarinic acetylcholine pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans pharynx

New evidence in Cell Metabolism reveals a molecular mechanism that may play a general role in animals' ability to respond appropriately when starved.

7 Apr 2006

Caenorhabditis elegans helps unravel mechanisms of hunger

In research that may have implications for studying eating disorders in humans, a worm the size of a pinhead is helping researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center unravel the mechanisms of hunger.

6 Apr 2006

Skinny fashion not to blame, anorexia in the genes

Researchers say that genetic factors and neuroticism may be linked with anorexia nervosa.

7 Mar 2006

New pathways linking liver disease to changes in the central nervous system

Liver disease is often associated with "sickness behaviors," such as malaise, listlessness, anorexia, difficulty concentrating, and fatigue. In cholestatic liver diseases (where bile production is impaired) such as primary biliary cirrhosis, fatigue occurs in up to 86 percent of patients.

5 Jan 2006

Eating disorders linked to perinatal complications

Certain complications during and immediately after birth are associated with the development of the eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, according to a study in the January issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

2 Jan 2006

Feeling fat - it's all in the mind!

UK scientists believe they have identified the part of the brain that determines whether a person feels fat.

29 Nov 2005

Therapies for negative body image

Therapies for those with a significant negative body image, which affects an individual's capacity to form close and affectionate friendships and relationships and may be associated with depression, low self-esteem, anxiety and fear, will be the focus of a new Australian National University (ANU) study.

1 Nov 2005

Australian obesity crisis

A new study by global market research firm, TNS, reinforces growing alarm among health and nutrition professionals that Australia is in the grips of rising levels of excess weight, risking future diabetes, heart disease and cancer epidemics and increasing mental illness in the community.

26 Oct 2005

Anorexia may be caused by change in brain chemical

A new study has found that women who have had a certain type of anorexia nervosa show a change in the activity of a chemical in their brain that is widely associated with anxiety and other affective disorders, for as long as one year after recovery.

7 Sep 2005

Anorexia nervosa linked with alteration of the activity of serotonin in their brain

Women who have had a certain type of anorexia nervosa show an alteration of the activity of a chemical in their brain that is widely associated with anxiety and other affective disorders more than one year after recovery, according to a study in the September issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

6 Sep 2005

Naturally occurring peptide hormones - candidates for the treatment of cancer, sexual dysfunction, eating disorders

Chemists at the University of Arizona have developed modified versions of naturally occurring peptide hormones that could be key to novel treatments of a variety of diseases, including eating disorders (anorexia, obesity), diabetes, sexual dysfunction and skin cancer.

1 Sep 2005

Oxytocin and ingestive behavior

More than 15 years ago Edward Stricker and Joseph Verbalis reported that oxytocin (OT) is involved in the neural control of food and salt intake in adult rats. Linda Rinaman at the University of Pittsburgh is investigating the anatomical organization of this system, and also is taking a developmental approach to determine how OT modulates eating and digestion.

11 Aug 2005

Endorphin system may hold the key to understanding and treating bulimia nervosa

The role of the brain's opioid receptor system - or endorphin system - may hold the key to understanding and treating bulimia nervosa, according to research reported in the Society of Nuclear Medicine's August issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

9 Aug 2005

Surgical myectomy gives fresh start to patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), an abnormal thickening of the heart, affects more than 500,000 Americans, making it more common than better-known conditions such as Crohn's disease, Multiple Sclerosis and Anorexia Nervosa.

2 Aug 2005

How oxytocin (OT) modulates eating and digestion

19 Jul 2005

Overactive dopamine receptors may help explain anorexia nervosa symptoms

Just why those with anorexia nervosa are driven to be excessively thin and seem unaware of the seriousness of their condition could be due to over-activity of a chemical system found in a region deep inside the brain, a University of Pittsburgh study suggests.

11 Jul 2005

Undetected autism in women manifests as anorexia nervosa

According to a leading expert, severe cases of anorexia may be the result of undetected autism in women.

30 Jun 2005

Tetanus toxin may help fight depression, anxiety, anorexia and Parkinson's

A team of researchers from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Institute of Neuroscience at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona has discovered that tetanus toxin, which causes tetanus, could be extremely useful as a therapy against psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety and anorexia, and to slow the progress of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease.

14 Jun 2005

Unique therapeutic strategy to combat cachexia

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University's Doernbecher Children's Hospital have uncovered a unique therapeutic strategy to combat cachexia - severe malnutrition and physical wasting away - in children and adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The study is published in the June issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

9 Jun 2005

E-health therapies attract national accolades

Leeds University spinout company Media Innovations leading the way in new therapies for eating disorders bulimia and anorexia nervosa. In the last month, the company’s unique CD-Rom packages have won a prestigious award, been short listed for a further award and received a grant from the Medical Research Council to widen the delivery of the packages further.

10 Apr 2005