Have an Anorexia? Brain Stimulation May Help Ease Symptoms, Study Finds

Anorexia nervosa is a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss. Patient who has Anorexia suffers tremedously not being able to live normally.

However, there's some good news. According to new study by British researcher, brain stimulation may ease major symptoms of the eating disorder anorexia.

A research group at King's College conducted by Jessica McClelland has analyzed anorexia patients before and after they underwent into several Repetitive Transcranial Stimulation or rTMS. A previous treatment approved for depression patients.

"We found that one session of rTMS reduced the urge to restrict food intake, levels of feeling full, and levels of feeling fat, as well as encouraging more prudent decision-making. Taken together, these findings suggest that brain stimulation may reduce symptoms of anorexia by improving cognitive control over compulsive features of the disorder," said Jessica.

"Taken together, these findings suggest that brain stimulation may reduce symptoms of anorexia by improving cognitive control over compulsive features of the disorder," McClelland said.

This new way is demonstrates promise in depression, drug addiction and anorexia treatments. Magnetic coil's are placed over a brain region that is known to be significantly important for self-control and is usually not functioning well in people who has anorexia.

"Anorexia nervosa is thought to affect up to 4 percent of women in their life-time. With increasing illness duration, anorexia becomes entrenched in the brain and increasingly difficult to treat. Our preliminary findings support the potential of novel brain-directed treatments for anorexia, which are desperately needed," said senior author Professor Ulrike Schmidt from the IoPPN at King's College London.

The study looked at 49 participants.

Nearly 20 percent of anorexia patients dies early from the condition.

The study was published March 23 in the journal PLoS One.

Below are the warning signs of anorexia

-Dramatic weight loss.

-Preoccupation with weight, food, calories, fat grams, and dieting.

-Refusal to eat certain foods, progressing to restrictions against whole categories of food (e.g. no carbohydrates, etc.).

-Frequent comments about feeling "fat" or overweight despite weight loss.

-Anxiety about gaining weight or being "fat."

-Denial of hunger.

-Development of food rituals (e.g. eating foods in certain orders, excessive chewing, rearranging food on a plate).

-Consistent excuses to avoid mealtimes or situations involving food.

-Excessive, rigid exercise regimen--despite weather, fatigue, illness, or injury, the need to "burn off" calories taken in.

-Withdrawal from usual friends and activities.

-In general, behaviors and attitudes indicating that weight loss, dieting, and control of food are becoming primary concerns.