Selasa, 26 Juni 2012

Could a shock to the brain stop people from binge eating?

Could a shock to the brain stop people from binge eating?

  • When stimulator turned on in obese mice, scientists saw 60 per cent drop in consumption of high-fat food
  • Treatment is already approved for certain neurological and psychiatric disorders

By Claire Bates

PUBLISHED: 06:38 EST, 26 June 2012 | UPDATED: 08:03 EST, 26 June 2012

Scientists have come up with an unusual new treatment for obesity - a zap of electricity to the brain.

A team from the University of Pennsylvania believe deep brain stimulation may reduce the desire to eat.

The treatment is already approved for certain neurological and psychiatric disorders, such as Parkinson's disease.

The procedure does not destroy any part of the brain and typically does not cause pain.

Can't resist? Scientists are investigating whether deep brain stimulation could cure binge eating

Can't resist? Scientists are investigating whether deep brain stimulation could cure binge eating

Study author Dr Casey Halpern, said: 'Doing brain surgery for obesity treatment is a controversial idea.

'However, binge eating is a common feature of obese patients that frequently is associated with suboptimal treatment outcomes.'

Dr Halpern said available treatments of obesity didn't adequately address the neural basis of compulsive overeating that often led to obesity.

In tests, the electric shock to the brain reduced the desire to over-eat in mice and the researchers think it could have the same effect on humans.

A region of the brain called the nucleus accumbens is known to be dysregulated in both rodents and people who binge eat. Therefore, Dr Halpern and his co-workers targeted that brain region with deep brain stimulation in a strain of obesity-prone mice. 

The surgery involved implanting an electrode in the nucleus accumbens. Wires connected the electrode to an external neurostimulator, a device similar to a pacemaker. When switched on, the stimulator triggers the electrode to deliver continuous electrical pulses to the brain.

After recovery from surgery, the mice received high-fat food at the same time every day for one hour, and the researchers measured their food consumption. Binge eating was defined as consuming 25 per cent or more of the usual daily caloric intake during this period.

For one week, mice consistently binged, eating almost half of their daily calories during this one hour, the authors reported.

Then on alternati ng days, the investigators turned on the stimulator. On the days that deep brain stimulation was administered, or 'on,' the scientists observed a significant (approximately 60 per cent) decrease in consumption of the high-fat diet. On the alternate days when they turned off the stimulator, binge eating returned. 

By regulating various nerve cell receptors with medications they discovered that the stimulation probably worked by affecting the type 2 dopamine receptor.

The study results will be presented at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston.

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Electro-Aversion-Therapy. 'EAT' for short. Sorry, I couldn't resist that one.

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David Cameron must have been eating a lot of doughnuts of late !

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"An electric shock to the brain 'could stop people from binge eating" So can running your lips through a sewing machine... just as painful!

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My one vow is never to allow a Psychiatrist to do anything more for me, as they have caused me more problems. One of these treatments was 6 courses of ECT which is the same thing 6 shocks to ones brain. This does do damage to ones brain with loss of memory, and some memory not returning. I would have had undiagnosed Hypothyroidism, and in turn this can cause memory problems so not a good idea for thyroid patients. Another treatment that interfered with Dopamine was Pimozide which caused my Hypothyroidism to get worse and a large increase in weight, and in the end breast cancer, plus more harm done by the increase in weight, so never trust a psychiatrist.

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Electric shock as in 100,000 volts?

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They did this in the movie Dodgeball years ago......

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This reminds ,me of a comment I saw yesterday on another DM article.The commenter said that on Youtube there is a video of a man who has been micro-chiped.This man goes to order a pizza , and they say no you can't have a pizza as our records show that you have high blood pressure/diabeties etc.would you like a salad instead.It also (apparently,I havn't seen the video)shows micro-chiped people being given ever increasing electric shocks,when they fail to comply with the law,some of these are even fatal.Natrually thin people eat whatever they want,this is a fact.Paul Mckenna the hypnotist,uses a system where you eat WHATEVER YOU WANT.His system,so he says, has a 71% success rate.And there isan't a vegatable in sight.

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Poor mice. Torturing animals for a treatment that is hardly life saving? Why?

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I've a better idea a right hook to the jaw. A liquid diet for at least three months and you should loose at least two to three stone!

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Yes, I recently saw "doughnut psychology" in the comedy "The Five Year Engagement" starring Emily Blunt.

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