Meeting Report: Minimally Invasive Procedure May Target Hunger Hormone Gherlin

Posted on March 30, 2012 by weightcontrol

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (March 26, 2012)—A minimally invasive treatment may target hunger at its source and another uses X-ray visible embolic beads to block arteries to the stomach and suppress hunger.  Initial results from these studies were reported at the Society of Interventional Radiology’s 37th Annual Scientific Meeting in San Francisco, Calif.

Approximately 127 million Americans (or 65 percent) are overweight, obese or morbidly obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rate of morbid obesity is also risingrapidly. Two new studies that explored the use of proven interventional radiology treatments in new ways may have the potential to help individuals with morbid obesity.
“Currently, there are three clinically viable surgical alternatives for obesity: gastric bypass surgery, gastric pacing and endoscopic gastric banding. These procedures have varying success rates; they are invasive, require extensive gastric/bowel reconstruction or external devices and can have significant surgical complications,” explained Charles Y. Kim, M.D., assistant professor of radiology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., and lead investigator on one of the studies.

“Our promising results led us to believe that a minimally invasive interventional radiology treatment—called bariatric arterial embolization—would allow for precise targeting of a specific portion of a person’s stomach in order to decrease production of ghrelin, a hormone that causes hunger. This treatment could one day be the answer for those who have not been successful with weight loss through diet and exercise,” said Kim.

Embolization is a minimally invasive technique where an interventional radiologist uses a thin catheter to inject tiny particles into an artery supplying the area being treated with the goal of blocking tiny vessels to starve it of its blood supply. “Interventional radiologists have safely and effectively used embolization in many other disease states for decades,” stated Kim. “For this study, we selectively blocked and decreased the blood flow to a very specific part of the stomach using specialized radiologic equipment, which led to significantly decreased levels of ghrelin in the animals that we treated.

We found that when ghrelin levels decrease, appetite and hunger also decrease, causing weight loss in the treated animals relative to nontreated animals,” Kim continued. “Bariatric arterial embolization may have a future use in treating obesity in humans by significantly suppressing appetite to achieve weight loss,” he said.

The researchers will continue studies aimed at the reduction and elimination of complications, such as stomach ulcers, and expressed confidence that bariatric arterial embolization is very close to moving toward the clinical trial phase in the United States.

A second study tested a new type of X-ray-visible embolic bead in bariatric arterial embolization.

“Until now, clinically available embolic beads have not been visible on X-ray during or after delivery. We developed a new embolic bead that can be seen directly by X-ray imaging and have tested them in the new bariatric embolization treatment for obesity,” explained Clifford R. Weiss, M.D., assistant professor of radiology at Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md.

“The current system requires that the beads be mixed with X-ray-visible contrast agents before delivery. Although this mixture is visible during infusion, the contrast immediately washes away, and the location of the beads can no longer be ‘tracked,’” Weiss said. “By making the beads X-ray visible and using them in tandem with C-arm cone-beam CT—a new way of X-ray imaging that creates 3-D pictures—these beads can be tracked both during and after delivery. This allows for more precise assessment of ‘ontarget’ embolization,” he said.
“Due to the fact that these beads are visible and can be tracked over time, we should be able to assess their long-term presence. If needed, the patient can then be retreated. With the
current clinically available beads, it is not possible to determine whether they are intact and functional over time. We recommend further studies to prove the beads’ safety over time and ensure they do not have any unintended effects on the target organs or on the individuals being treated,” he added. “We believe there are myriad possible applications for these beads, such as treating cancer of the liver or non-cancerous uterine masses,” stated Weiss.

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NIH: Weight loss and Increased Fitness slow decline of mobility in adults

Posted on March 28, 2012 by weightcontrol

Weight loss and increased physical fitness nearly halved the risk of losing mobility in overweight or obese adults with type 2 diabetes, according to four-year results from the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) trial funded by the National Institutes of Health. The results are published in the March 29, 2012, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

“Being able to perform routine activities is an important contributor to quality of life,” said Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D., director of the NIH’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), which led the study. “These findings add support to making lifestyle changes that improve health and reduce disability in people with type 2 diabetes, changes that already have been shown to prevent the disease and provide a good return on investment.”

Look AHEAD is a multi-center, randomized clinical trial designed to determine the long-term effects of intentional weight loss on the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in overweight and obese individuals with type 2 diabetes. Beginning in 2001, a total of 5,145 participants were randomly assigned to either an intensive lifestyle intervention group (ILI) or a diabetes support and education group (DSE). Participants receiving the intervention attended group and individual meetings to achieve and maintain weight loss through decreased caloric intake and increased physical activity. The DSE group attended three meetings each year that provided general education on diet, activity, and social support.

To assess mobility and disability, participants rated their ability to carry out activities with or without limitations. Included were vigorous activities such as running and lifting heavy objects and moderate ones such as pushing a vacuum cleaner or playing golf. Participants also separately rated their ability to climb a flight of stairs; bend, kneel or stoop; walk more than a mile; and walk one block. Both groups were weighed annually and completed a treadmill fitness test at baseline, after one year, and at the end of four years.

After four years of the study, participants in the ILI group experienced a 48 percent reduction in mobility-related disability compared with the DSE group. Furthermore, 20.6 percent of ILI participants reported severe disability compared to 26.2 percent of participants in the DSE group. Likewise, 38.5 percent of those in the ILI group reported good mobility, whereas the rate was 31.9 percent in the DSE group. Weight loss was a slightly stronger predictor of better mobility than improved fitness, but both contributed significantly to the observed reduction in risk.

“With nearly two-thirds of participants reporting mild, moderate, or severe restrictions in mobility when Look AHEAD began, it is critical to address this problem,” said Mary Evans, Ph.D., project scientist for the study.”This study of mobility highlights the value of finding ways to help adults with type 2 diabetes keep moving as they age. We know that when adults lose mobility, it becomes difficult for them to live on their own, and they are likely to develop more serious health problems, increasing their health care costs.”

Overweight and obesity affects more than two-thirds of U.S. adults age 20 and older. More than one-third of adults are obese. Many factors contribute to the problem, including genetics, lifestyle habits, and the food environment. Excess weight can lead to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and certain cancers. Nearly 26 million Americans have diabetes, and 7 million of them do not know it.

“The weight loss and physical activity goals promoted in the study are well within the reach of most Americans,” said Jack Rejeski, Ph.D., lead author and Thurman D. Kitchin professor of health and exercise science at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C. “Future research is needed to determine if this sort of intervention can be translated into public health interventions, particularly in light of possible effects on health care costs.”

The

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Fat Talk and Body Image

Posted on March 24, 2012 by weightcontrol

 Exploring the Causes and Consequences of Engaging in Fat Talk

Author Interview: Analisa Arroyo
Doctoral Student
Internship Coordinator
University of Arizona
Department of Communication

What are the main findings of the study?

The goal of the research study was to explore the causes and consequences of engaging in fat talk.

This article involved two short-term longitudinal studies.

Study 1 found, across a three-week span, fat talk to predict lower body satisfaction and higher depression. Fat talk also mediated the association between body weight concerns and mental health problems, meaning that fat talk is a mechanism through which higher weight concerns leads to more mental health problems.

Study 2 found, across a two-week span, making fat talk comments to predict higher levels of depression and perceived sociocultural pressure to be thin. In addition, low body satisfaction predicted making more fat talk. Hearing fat talk comments was neither an outcome nor predictor of body concerns or mental health.

 Were any of the findings unexpected?

Our findings were as expected, although we did find the difference between making and hearing fat talk comments to others quite interesting. For example, media effects research shows that exposure to images and message in the media of “ideal” women and men can affect individuals’ body image, but interpersonally, this is not happening. It is the act of making disparaging comments about one’s self, rather than passively being exposed to it, that has these negative effects.

 What should clinicians and patients take away from this study?

Our contention is that fat talk has at least two substantially negative effects: (a) it articulates an objectified and largely helpless vision of self as part of a stigmatized group and (b) it escalates somewhat focused weight concerns into broader negative aspects of self-concept. We believe that reducing the amount of fat talk will weaken those connections.

In the paper we suggest a number of ways in which individuals can effectively and appropriately reduce problematic forms of talk, such as considering interpersonal strategies for reducing its occurrence (e.g., changing the topic, directly confronting those engaging in it, humorous parody).

While we would not suggest fat talk observation as a clinical tool, there are useful messages here for people in close relationships. Friends, family members, and romantic partners who engage in lots of this sort of talk may be struggling with more serious underlying issues, and our work does not suggest that fat talk is therapeutic or helpful in terms of those underlying issues. Therefore, those who interact with people who engage in such talk should seek out ways of confronting both the talk itself and possibly the deeper issues.

What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of your study?

This is a ripe area for future research.

Longer-term longitudinal designs will assist efforts to capture the effects of engaging in fat talk over time. For example, studies that examine chronic production of this talk over time (e.g., using diaries) will be able to uncover whether the short-term effects we documented here accumulate for some people and lead to very serious outcomes for a minority of habitual fat talkers.

We also believe that we should explore and distinguish different types of fat talk (e.g., comments of fear vs. comments of dissatisfaction vs. comments of jealousy, etc.), including more positive forms of this discourse. In particular, we emphasize uncovering more apparently positive forms of this talk and investigating their effects.

Finally, we suggest that the study of fat talk offers a prime location in which to integrate studies of media processes (e.g., images of ideal bodies, weight-related advertising), and interpersonal processes (fat talk). How does exposure to idealized media images and weight-themed television programming influence interpersonal conversation, and does such conversation mediate the effects of media on weight-related cognitions and attitudes?

Reference:
Exploring the Causes and Consequences of Engaging in Fat Talk
Analisa Arroyo & Jake Harwood
Journal of Applied Communication Research
DOI:10.1080/00909882.2012.654500
Available online: 09 Feb 2012

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Negative Talk About Body Weight Predicts Depression, Poor Body Image

Posted on March 23, 2012 by weightcontrol

Newswise — Washington, DC (March 22, 2012)- Commenting that you think you are fat may be hazardous to your mental health. Engaging in “fat talk”—the ritualistic conversations about one’s own or others’ bodies—predicts lower satisfaction with one’s body and higher levels of depression, finds a new study recently published online in the National Communication Association’s Journal of Applied Communication Research.

“These results suggest that expressing weight-related concerns, which is common especially among women, has negative effects,” said the study’s lead author, Analisa Arroyo, a Ph.D. student in communication at the University of Arizona, Tucson. “We found that fat talk predicts changes in depression, body satisfaction, and perceived pressure to be thin across time.”

Arroyo’s research, conducted with Jake Harwood, Ph.D., professor of communication at the University of Arizona, involved two studies that surveyed undergraduate student volunteers at the university. The researchers sought to determine whether fat talk was a cause or outcome of body weight concerns and mental health issues.

The first study included 33 women and 24 men with an average age of nearly 21. Through a series of online questionnaires administered over three weeks, participants responded to questions about their body satisfaction and perceived pressure from society to be thin, level of depression and self-esteem, and frequency of fat talk. Examples of fat talk included comments about what the respondents’ eating and exercise habits should be, fears of becoming overweight, perception of their own weight and shape, and voiced comparisons with other people in these areas.

The results showed that the more often someone engaged in fat talk, the lower that person’s body satisfaction and the higher the level of depression after three weeks, according to Arroyo. The findings did not differ significantly by participants’ sex or body mass index.

Although there was no support in the initial study for fat talk being an outcome of body weight concerns and mental health issues, the second study did demonstrate this, statistical analyses found. Unlike the first research project, this larger study distinguished between saying and hearing fat talk. Again, undergraduate students with an average age of 21 (85 women and 26 men) completed online questionnaires, this time over a two-week period.

Low body satisfaction significantly predicted saying more fat talk, the investigators found. In turn, saying fat talk significantly predicted increased depression over time and greater perceived pressure to be thin. Hearing fat talk was neither a cause nor a consequence of body weight and mental health issues.

Arroyo said they found the latter finding interesting because it contradicts published media effects research, which shows that exposure to messages in the media can affect individuals’ body image. “Interpersonally, however, this is not happening,” she said. “It is the act of engaging in fat talk, rather than passively being exposed to it, that has these negative effects.”

The article, “Exploring the Causes and Consequences of Engaging in Fat Talk,” will appear in the May 2012 print issue of the Journal of Applied Communication Research.

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Dietician: Reducing Sugary Drink Intake will Curb Obesity in Children

Posted on March 21, 2012 by weightcontrol

Newswise — STONY BROOK, N.Y., March 19, 2012 – Sugary drinks are the single biggest contributor to the obesity epidemic in the United States, and according to the Centers for Disease Control, two-thirds of adults and one-third of the children in the U.S. are overweight or obese. Registered dietician Leah Holbrook, Coordinator of the Long Island Center for Pediatric Obesity Prevention in the Department of Family Medicine at Stony Brook School of Medicine, says that these sobering statistics and the fact that beverages account for nearly half of the added sugars in our diet are a wakeup call for Americans to reduce their sugary drink intake.

In recognition of National Nutrition Month, the Long Island Center for Pediatric Obesity Prevention is focusing this month’s nutritional education on raising awareness about drinks that are high in sugar. An expert on obesity prevention, Holbrook says Americans are consuming too many sugary beverages.

Holbrook explains the scope of the problem in relation to the American diet, why such drinks are dangerous to our health, particularly in children, and what parents should do to help their children develop better dietary drinking habits:

1) Americans are consuming too much sugar in our beverages:

“Sugary drinks, such as soda, juices, and chocolate milk, are the single biggest contributor to the nation’s obesity epidemic. Beverages account for nearly half of the sugars in our diets, and a typical American drinks 40 pounds of sugar a year. Children and teenagers consume too much sugar. In New York State, approximately 42 percent of children between the ages of 12 and 17 have at least one soda or sugary beverage a day.”

2) Common drinks contain loads of sugar:

“It might surprise the average consumer to know that a typical 20-ounce bottle of soda contains approximately 65 grams of sugar. This translates to the equivalent of 16 packets of sugar for every 20 ounce bottle consumed. Additionally, the serving size for a midsized sugar-sweetened beverage has increased over time. It has grown from 6 ounces in the 1950s to 13 ounces in the 1970s, to 19 ounces today.

“Many common beverages we drink contain much more sugar than we expect. For instance, most juices sold contain only 10 percent actual juice with a lot of added sugar, including high fructose sugar.”

Sugar Content in Popular Drinks

Lemon Snapple (16oz) = 46g sugar = 11 packets of sugar
Nesquick Chocolate Milk (16oz) = 60g sugar = 15 packets of sugar
Ocean Spray Cran-Grape (15oz) = 58g sugar = 14 packets of sugar
Coca-Cola (20oz) = 65g sugar = 16 packets of sugar
Starbucks Mocha Frappucino = 31g sugar = 8 packets of sugar
Apple juice (8oz represented in a baby bottle) = 27g sugar = 7 packets of sugar

3) Sugary drinks are dangerous for children’s health:

“A child who drinks just one 8-ounce sugary drink ever day increases his/her chances of becoming obese by 60 percent. Sugary drinks do not create the same sense of fullness that solid food does, so children (and adults) are just as likely to consume their regular calories rather than adjust them to compensate for the liquid calories. An additional problem with sugary drinks is that the sugar makes people feel hungrier, and therefore they may actually eat more.”

4) Parents can instill better drinking and dietary habits in their children:

“A child who is simply not used to drinking sugary beverages develops good drinking and eating habits for a lifetime. Parents should greatly limit their children’s sugary beverage intake. A child who is not used to drinking sugary beverages does not miss them and will likely have an easier time enjoying less sweet, nutritious foods and drinks as their tastes develop.”

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Study: parent’s weight change is a key contributor to the success of a child’s weight loss

Posted on March 15, 2012 by weightcontrol

Newswise — A study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and The University of Minnesota indicates that a parent’s weight change is a key contributor to the success of a child’s weight loss in family-based treatment of childhood obesity. The results were published today in the advanced online edition of the journal Obesity.

“We looked at things such as parenting skills and styles, or changing the home food environment, and how they impacted a child’s weight,” said Kerri N. Boutelle, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at UC San Diego and Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego. “The number one way in which parents can help an obese child lose weight? Lose weight themselves. In this study, it was the most important predictor of child weight loss.”

Recent data suggests that 31 percent of children in the United States are overweight or obese, or between four and five million children. Current treatment programs generally require participation by both parents and children in a plan that combines nutrition education and exercise with behavior therapy techniques.

How to Best Help Your Child Lose Weight: Lose Weight Yourself

Released: 3/14/2012 5:15 PM EDT
Source: University of California, San Diego Health Sciences

Debra Kain, 619-543-6163, ddkain@ucsd.edu

Newswise — A study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and The University of Minnesota indicates that a parent’s weight change is a key contributor to the success of a child’s weight loss in family-based treatment of childhood obesity. The results were published today in the advanced online edition of the journal Obesity.

“We looked at things such as parenting skills and styles, or changing the home food environment, and how they impacted a child’s weight,” said Kerri N. Boutelle, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at UC San Diego and Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego. “The number one way in which parents can help an obese child lose weight? Lose weight themselves. In this study, it was the most important predictor of child weight loss.”

Recent data suggests that 31 percent of children in the United States are overweight or obese, or between four and five million children. Current treatment programs generally require participation by both parents and children in a plan that combines nutrition education and exercise with behavior therapy techniques.

“Parents are the most significant people in a child’s environment, serving as the first and most important teachers,” said Boutelle “They play a significant role in any weight-loss program for children, and this study confirms the importance of their example in establishing healthy eating and exercise behaviors for their kids.”

The researchers looked at eighty parent-child groups with an 8 to 12-year-old overweight or obese child, who participated in a parent-only or parent + child treatment program for five months.

The study focused on evaluating the impact of three types of parenting skills taught in family-based behavioral treatment for childhood obesity, and the impact of each on the child’s body weight: the parent modeling behaviors to promote their own weight loss, changes in home food environment, and parenting style and techniques (for example, a parent’s ability to help limit the child’s eating behavior, encouraging the child and participating in program activities).

Consistent with previously published research, parent BMI change was the only significant predictor of child’s weight loss.

The researchers concluded that clinicians should focus on encouraging parents to lose weight to help their overweight or obese child in weight management.

For more information about weight loss programs for children and adolescents at UC San Diego, visit www.obesitytreatment.ucsd.edu or email Kidsweight@ucsd.edu.

Additional contributors to the study include Guy Cafri, UCSD Child and Adolescent Services Research Center, and Scott J. Crown, University of Minnesota.

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Red Meat Consumption and Mortality : Dr. Hu

Posted on March 14, 2012 by weightcontrol

Red Meat Consumption and Mortality:
Results From 2 Prospective Cohort Studies

Author Interview: Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD

Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology
Harvard School of Public Health
Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School

What are the main findings of the study?

Eating unprocessed red meat (hamburger, pork, roast beef, lamb) and processed meats (bacon, hot dogs, bologna, sausage) may increase a person’s risk of premature death and raise their risk of death from heart disease and cancer. Substituting other foods such as fish, poultry, nuts and beans for red meat may lower their risk of premature death.

Were any of the findings unexpected?

Given that a growing evidence has linked higher red meat consumption, particularly processed ones, with increased risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain cancers, the findings were not surprising to us.

What should clinicians and patients take away from this study?

People should reduce their red meat consumption, maybe less than 3 servings per week (the less the better), and total avoid processed red meat.

If possible, replace red meat by other healthy protein sources, like fish, poultry, nuts, legumes, low-fat dairy products, whole grains etc.

What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of your study?

Further studies are need to investigate the underlying mechanisms of the association, and examine whether lowering red meat intake could be related to risk reduction, and further look at the cooking methods and different varieties (for example, lean meat, grass-fed cattle) etc.

Reference:

Red Meat Consumption and Mortality: Results From 2 Prospective Cohort Studies

An Pan, PhD; Qi Sun, MD, ScD; Adam M. Bernstein, MD, ScD; Matthias B. Schulze, DrPH; JoAnn E. Manson, MD, DrPH; Meir J. Stampfer, MD, DrPH; Walter C. Willett, MD, DrPH; Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD

Arch Intern Med. Published online March 12, 2012. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.2287

 

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Losing Belly Fat, Whether From a Low-Carb or a Low-Fat Diet, Helps Improve Blood Vessel Function

Posted on March 14, 2012 by weightcontrol

Newswise: March 13 2012

Newswise — Overweight people who shed pounds, especially belly fat, can improve the function of their blood vessels no matter whether they are on a low-carb or a low-fat diet, according to a study being presented by Johns Hopkins researchers at an American Heart Association scientific meeting in San Diego on March 13 that is focused on cardiovascular disease prevention.

In the six-month weight-loss study, Hopkins researchers found that the more belly fat the participants lost, the better their arteries were able to expand when needed, allowing more blood to flow more freely. The researchers also found that participants in the study who were on a low-carb diet lost about ten pounds more, on average, than those who were on a low-fat diet. Being overweight increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, especially if the fat is accumulated in the belly above the waist.

“After six months, those who were on the low-carb diet lost an average of 28.9 pounds versus 18.7 pounds among those on the low-fat diet,” says lead investigator Kerry J. Stewart, Ed.D., a professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of clinical and research exercise physiology at the Johns Hopkins Heart and Vascular Institute.

Stewart and his colleagues studied 60 men and women who weighed an average of 215 pounds at the start of the program. Half of the participants went on a low-carb diet while the others followed a low-fat diet. All took part in moderate exercise and their diets provided a similar amount of calories each day.

In order to evaluate the health of the participants’ blood vessels before and after the weight loss program, the researchers conducted a blood flow test by constricting circulation in the upper arm for five minutes with a blood pressure cuff. With this type of test, when the cuff is released, a healthier artery will expand more, allowing more blood to flow through the artery. The researchers measured how much blood reached the fingertips before, during, and after the constriction of the artery. Stewart says this test can give an indication of the overall health of the vascular system throughout the body. The researchers found that the more belly fat a person had lost, the greater the blood flow to the finger, signaling better the function of the artery.

“Our study demonstrated that the amount of improvement in the vessels was directly linked to how much central, or belly fat, the individuals lost, regardless of which diet they were on,” says Stewart. “This is important since there have been concerns that a low-carb diet, which means eating more fat, may have a harmful effect on cardiovascular health. These results showed no harmful effects from the low-carb diet.”

In the low-carb diet used in the study, up to 30 percent of calories came from carbs such as bread, pasta and certain fruits, while 40 percent was from fat consumed from meat, dairy products and nuts. In contrast, the low-fat diet consisted of no more than 30 percent of calories from fat and 55 percent from carbs.

Stewart notes that participants on the low-carb diet lost more weight and at a faster pace, on average, which has also been seen in several other studies. He says eating higher amounts of carbohydrates can slow down the rate of body fat loss while on a weight reduction diet.

The findings were consistent with early results presented by Stewart in June 2011 at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in Denver. That initial report was based on results after participants in the study had lost their first 10 pounds. These longer-term results show that weight loss, along with exercise, is important for improving vascular health, and suggests following a low-carb diet rather than the conventionally recommended low-fat diet for weight loss is not a concern in terms of vascular health.

 

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Elevated pre-morbid weights in bulimic individuals are usually surpassed post-morbidly: Dr. Lowe

Posted on March 12, 2012 by weightcontrol

Author Interview: Professor Michael R. Lowe, Ph.D. 

Professor,Department of Psychology
Drexel University Philadelphia, PA

What are the main findings of the study?

1.        Women with bulimia nervosa, who usually have above-average body weights before they develop their eating disorder, typically lose a lot of weight in the process of developing their disorder.  However, they eventually regain so much weight while they have the disorder that they usually supersede their already-elevated previous highest body weight while they have the eating disorder.

2.       It appears that those bulimic women who regain the most weight aren’t any sicker, they simply have had their disorder for longer, giving them more time to regain the weight they had previously lost.

Were any of the findings unexpected?

Yes, we had previously assumed that nearly all women with bulimia nervosa reached their highest adult weight before they became eating disordered.

What should clinicians and patients take away from this study?

Most women with bulimia have body weights in the normal weight range.

However, many of them are prone to weight gain in the future, especially if their current weight is far below their past highest weight (e.g., more than 20 lbs).

This should provide a further impetus to get treatment because having the disorder may actually contribute to future weight gain.  At the same time, those who are highest in weight suppression might recover more easily if they are able to accept the possibility that this may involve some gradual weight gain.

What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of your study?

There are now many studies showing that being high in weight suppression – that is, having a body weight that is far below one’s previous highest weight – may contribute to bulimia.

The next step is to determine how existing treatments might be changed to help those highest in weight suppression recover.

Read the Research Press Release

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Sleep problems are associated with binge eating in women : Dr. Trace

Posted on March 12, 2012 by weightcontrol

Sleep problems are associated with binge eating in women

Author Interview:  Sara Trace, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow in Eating Disorders
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Department of Psychiatry

What are the main findings of the study?

The main findings of this study were significant associations between current sleep problems and lifetime binge eating after accounting for the following covariates: age at interview, current cohabitating status, lifetime depression diagnosis, and obesity status in a large population-based sample of Swedish women.

Were any of the findings unexpected?

The findings of this study were not unexpected. Rather, they confirm prior research findings and hypotheses suggesting an association between sleep problems and binge eating.

What should clinicians and patients take away from this study?

Clinicians should take away that it is not premature to screen for both sleep problems and binge eating in settings where individuals struggle with either problem. Given the significant association between obesity and binge eating, clinicians should also ensure that obesity interventions address binge eating in addition to sleep hygiene.

Patients with binge eating should take away that it is important be mindful of their sleep patterns, making sure that they receive adequate sleep. Similarly, individuals with sleep problems are encouraged to monitor their eating patterns for symptoms of binge eating, seeking eating disorder treatment if necessary.

What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of your study?

Although this investigation found an association between binge eating and sleep problems, the nature of this association remains largely unknown.

In the future, longitudinal investigations incorporating psychological, biological, and neuroendocrine factors, as well as contemporaneous assessment of a wide range of sleep problems (voluntary sleep curtailment vs. insomnia) are needed to provide important information related to why binge eating and sleep problems co-occur, how they may affect one another, and the mechanisms underlying this association.

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