A small study of 16 people with severe anorexia has found that implanting stimulation electrodes into the brains of patients could ease their anxiety and help them gain weight.
Researchers found that in extreme cases of the eating disorder, the technique — known as deep brain stimulation (DBS) — swiftly helped many of those studied reduce symptoms of either anxiety or depression, and improved their quality of life.
IMPROVEMENTS
A few months later, the improved psychological symptoms began to lead to changes in weight, the researchers said, with the average body mass index (BMI) of the group increasing to 17.3 — a rise of 3.5 points — over the course of the study.
Anorexia is a serious eating disorder that affects about 0.5 percent of people worldwide, the majority of them teenage girls. Patients have persistent concerns about their weight, shape and size, and starve themselves to maintain a low weight.
Chronic anorexia can be fatal and in many cases causes severe health problems, including weak bones and muscles, sexual problems, infertility, heart problems and seizures.
The scientists who led this study, published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal on Thursday, said their results suggest deep brain stimulation — which involves implanting electrodes to stimulate brain areas that control dysfunctional behaviors — might alter the brain circuits that drive anorexia.
DBS is already used to target brain circuits involved in Parkinson’s disease and tremors, and has been shown to be very effective in reducing symptoms.
In this trial, 16 women aged between 21 and 57 who had had anorexia for an average of 18 years and were severely underweight — with an average BMI of 13.8 — were selected. They were chosen because all other treatments had not worked and their lives were at risk from the disorder.
A healthy range for BMI is 18.5 to 24.9.
BRAIN ACTIVITY
Comparing brain scans from before and after the treatment, the researchers found there were changes in regions linked to anorexia, suggesting the DBS was able to directly affect the related brain circuits.
This included less activity in the putamen, thalamus, cerebellum amongst other areas, the scientists said, and more activity in the peripheral cortical areas that are also linked to social perception and behavior.
Andres Lozano, a professor at the University of Toronto who led the study, said that while the results showed some early promise, more research would be needed.
“Anorexia remains the psychiatric disorder with the highest mortality rate, and there is an urgent need to develop safe, effective, evidence-driven treatments that are informed by a growing understanding of brain circuitry,” he said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in