Reuters.com: Anorexia may represent an addiction

hiake · Oct 4, 2007

Anorexia may represent an addiction

By Megan Rauscher

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Scientists from France have found that anorexia and the highly addicting club-drug ecstasy activate some of the same brain pathways, a finding that may help explain the addictive nature of anorexia and other eating disorders and lead to new treatments.

In a paper published this week, Dr. Valerie Compan of Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Montpellier, and colleagues report that both anorexia and ecstasy reduce the drive to eat by stimulating the same subset of receptors for the neurotransmitter serotonin.

These so-called 5-HT4 receptors are located in a brain structure associated with feelings of reward called the nucleus accumbens.

In mice, Compan and colleagues stimulated these receptors, which are known to play a role in addictive behavior, and found that this led to anorexic-like behavior -- food-fed mice ate less and food-deprived mice showed a reduced drive to eat.

Stimulating these receptors in mice also boosted production of the same enzymes stimulated in response to cocaine and amphetamine use.

Blocking the receptors increased food intake in the animals and mice missing these receptors were less sensitive to the appetite-suppressant effects of ecstasy.

"Our data may converge to open the possibility that anorexia can be a reward-relating problem involving neuronal mechanisms," Compan told Reuters Health.

This research, she added, may have implications for the development of drug treatments for eating disorders. "Our studies over seven years now open the possibility that 5-HT4 receptor could represent an important therapeutic target to treat patients suffering from these disorders," Compan said

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSPAR37197720071003
Click to expand...

I am surprised that it is not common knowledge by now, the symptoms and behaviour of the condition certainly yells "addiction"...

Anyone care for a round of "Requiem for a dream"?

wind2000 · Oct 4, 2007

Lol, now they simply have to find a way to COERCE the anorexic to accept treatment. -devil

hiake · Oct 4, 2007

wind2000 said: ↑

Lol, now they simply have to find a way to COERCE the anorexic to accept treatment. -devil
Click to expand...

Best treatment = cold turkey -devil If they don't get multiple system failure and/or cardiac arrest, they would be "cured" in no time.

wind2000 · Oct 6, 2007

^ i like that idea... we should implement them in the system to cut costs-evil

hiake · Oct 9, 2007

wind2000 said: ↑

^ i like that idea... we should implement them in the system to cut costs-evil
Click to expand...

We can also extend that cold turkey treatment and design the official (sympathetic) speech in regards to deaths due to lack of care:

"Your beloved relative has been eliminated by natural selection."

Sheer brilliance in my opinion. -devil

Reuters.com: Anorexia may represent an addiction

hiake Vardøgr of da E.Twin

wind2000 Self Schemata

hiake Vardøgr of da E.Twin

wind2000 Self Schemata

hiake Vardøgr of da E.Twin