Eating Disorders

THURSDAY, March 26, 2015 — People with anorexia nervosa have an abnormal brain response to hunger signals, a new study finds. "When most people are hungry, they are motivated to eat," study first author Christina Wierenga, an associate professor of psychiatry at the the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, said in a university news release. "Yet individuals with anorexia can be hungry and still restrict their food intake. We wanted to identify brain mechanisms that may contribute to their ability to ignore rewards, like food," she explained. The finding offers new insight into eating disorders and could lead to new treatments that target specific brain pathways, according to the researchers. The findings were published recently in the journal…

— If you're concerned that your child may have an eating disorder, having the conversation can be difficult. The University of Michigan Health System suggests: Explain to your child in a caring, loving way about your concerns. Listen carefully to your child's response. Be aware that teens with eating disorders may be ashamed, afraid or out of control. Explain to your child that you want to help. You may need to bring up the conversation more than once if your child denies the behavior or gets angry. Monitor your child's Internet use, as there are sites that promote eating disorders. Seek professional help if you think your child needs it.

TUESDAY, Sept. 1, 2015 — Although most Americans think mental health care is important, they often believe it's expensive and hard to get, a new survey shows. In questioning more than 2,000 adults, nearly 90 percent said they place equal value on mental and physical health. But one-third said mental health care is inaccessible. And 40 percent said cost is a barrier to treatment for many people, the survey found. Forty-seven percent of respondents thought they have had a mental health condition, but only 38 percent of them had received treatment. Of those who were treated, most thought it was helpful, including 82 percent who got psychotherapy and 78 percent who received medications. The survey also found that 86 percent of participants knew that mental health disorders such as…

MONDAY, Oct. 12, 2015 — Family doctors and pediatricians are often the sole source of a child's mental health care, particularly for kids suffering from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). More than one-third of U.S. kids receiving care for a mental health problem are treated by their primary care physician alone, without the involvement of a psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker, according to a new study. And four out of 10 children with ADHD are treated by a primary care physician without any collaboration with a mental health professional. Primary care physicians also appear more likely than psychiatrists to prescribe medications to treat kids with ADHD, according to the study published online Oct. 12 in the journal Pediatrics. Children with ADHD usually…

FRIDAY, Nov. 20, 2015 — Teasing overweight girls about their weight can cause lasting harm to their self-image and might increase their risk of eating disorders, a new study suggests. "Weight status may be a more sensitive issue for children who are overweight or obese, and being teased about it may elicit a stronger response from them as opposed to children who are not overweight or obese," Norma Olvera, a professor and health educator at the University of Houston, said in a university news release. The research included 135 black and Hispanic girls about age 11 who were overweight or obese. Eighty-one percent of the girls were obese. All of them said they were unhappy about their body weight and wished they were thinner, the researchers said. "…

FRIDAY, Nov. 27, 2015 — Bullies may be at increased risk for eating disorders, a new study suggests. Previous research has found that victims of bullying are more likely to have these disorders, but the finding that bullies are also at risk came as a surprise, the researchers said. "For a long time, there's been this story about bullies that they're a little more hale and hearty," study author William Copeland, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, N.C., said in a university news release. "Maybe they're good at manipulating social situations or getting out of trouble, but in this one area it seems that's not the case at all. Maybe teasing others …

FRIDAY, Jan. 29, 2016 — New research assesses the often fatal outcomes for people with eating disorders, particularly anorexia. The study found that people with anorexia nervosa were five times more likely to die early than those in the general population. Most of the deaths among people with anorexia, which involves a low body weight and an intense fear of gaining weight, were due to natural causes associated with the disorder. Suicide was the leading cause of non-natural death. People with bulimia nervosa, which usually involves binge-eating and purging, and other types of eating disorders also had higher-than-normal death rates, but not as high as those with anorexia, the investigators said. Risk factors for premature death among people with eating disorders included a high number…

FRIDAY, March 25, 2016 — Brain stimulation may ease major symptoms of the eating disorder anorexia nervosa, a typically hard-to-treat condition, a new study suggests. British researchers evaluated anorexia patients before and after they underwent repetitive transcranial stimulation (rTMS), a treatment approved for depression. "With rTMS we targeted … an area of the brain thought to be involved in some of the self-regulation difficulties associated with anorexia," study first author Jessica McClelland, a postdoctoral researcher at King's College London, said in a school news release. The treatment delivers magnetic pulses to specific areas of the brain. It feels like a gentle tapping sensation on the side of the head, McClelland explained. The treatment alters the…

SATURDAY, April 9, 2016 — Researchers say they have pinpointed several factors that increase asthma risk in women and — to a lesser extent — in men. They analyzed data from about 175,000 people between the ages of 18 and 44 in 51 countries. They found that underweight or obese women who drank and smoked were twice as likely to have asthma as those with a healthy weight who didn't drink or smoke. Underweight or obese women who smoked and drank were also two to three times more likely to have wheezing, according to the study published April 4 in the journal BMJ Open Respiratory Research. But the study did not prove that these factors cause asthma, it only showed an association. "Although individual physical and behavioral factors associated with asthma have been examined…

WEDNESDAY, April 20, 2016 — Eating disorders may be more prevalent at schools where a greater portion of the student body is female, a new study suggests. British and Swedish researchers analyzed data from Sweden, and also found the risk increased when more of the students' parents had a university education. "Eating disorders have an enormous effect on the lives of young people who suffer from them — it is important to understand the risk factors so that we can address them," said study leader Dr. Helen Bould. Bould is a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the University of Oxford in England. "For a long time, clinicians in the field have noted that they seem to see more young people with eating disorders from some schools than others, …