Eating Disorders through Stress – Connected Enlightened – Naturopathy – Naturheilverfahren Fachportal

Eating disorders due to stress – context clarified

This text complies with the specifications of medical literature, medical guidelines and current studies and has been reviewed by medical doctors and physicians.

Puberty often plays a role in the development of anorexia. Due to various psychological, social and biological factors, sufferers are often initially dissatisfied with their own weight. (Image: terovesalainen / fotolia.com)

Stress contributes to a disturbed eating behavior

Stress has a negative effect on our eating habits and can lead to disturbed food intake. Researchers now wanted to find out why this is so and what can be done about it.

The current study at the University of Texas has determined how stress can contribute to eating disorders. The results of the study were published in the English-language journal “Nature Communications”.
Stress often plays an important role in the development of eating disorders. (Image: terovesalainen / fotolia.com)

Stress inhibits nutritional urge in mice

Many people are not hungry for stress and other strong emotional states. Researchers are now trying to find out how the brain causes these emotion-related effects on eating behavior. They discovered a previously unknown brain pathway in mice, which can be stimulated to increase the stress level in the animals and at the same time to reduce their urge to eat. The study examined a neural circuit connecting two brain regions of the mouse, the paraventricular hypothalamus (PVH) and the ventral lateral septum (Lsv). The first region is related to feeding, the second to emotional regulation. The investigated brain circuit serves to turn the signal path on and off. The activation of this circulatory system shows a measurable and dose-dependent effect on eating in relation to emotional stress, the research group explains.

Results could improve treatment of anorexia nervosa

The paraventricular hypothalamus is central to the coordination of adaptive behavior and bodily functions that are important to our survival, including eating. The study found that both PVH and LSv neurons are sensitive to environmental stimuli. On the other hand, they were relatively inactive during the feeding activity of the mice. However, a part of the brain has been identified in the mouse model that controls the influence of emotions on food, researchers report. This understanding could provide an opportunity to treat, for example, the eating disorder called anorexia nervosa. This eating disorder kills more people than any other mental illness, the researchers report on the figures from the National Institute of Mental Health.

Incorrect self-perception in anorexia nervosa

Diagnostic features of Anorexia nervosa are the intake of severely restricted amounts of food and a completely distorted body image. A classic finding in anorexia nervosa, for example, is the feeling that you are fat, even if the person is actually too thin and is already below the minimum limit for a healthy body weight. Older studies have already shown that stress has a strong influence on increasing and decreasing the urge to eat, explain the researchers. So far, however, could not be determined how exactly this interaction arises.

Stressed mice eat less

During the study, researchers used so-called optogenetic techniques to activate and inhibit the neural circuitry. They were able to discover that when the circulation was activated, glutamate was released from the neurons, with a corresponding increase in anxiety, while the appetite (dose-dependent) decreased. With weak light stimulation, the mice began to maintain a classic stress response. A strong light stimulation produced a flight behavior that is known to be related to anxiety. This indicated that the electrical activity between PVH and Lsv modulated emotional states, which also altered eating behavior. Activation also inhibited food intake, even when hungry. It showed how eating disorders can be related to mental changes. This is in line with previous findings that the animal’s sense of security or stress competes with its feeding behavior. In other words, animals eat more if they are not stressed out by a sense of danger.

Common brain cycle for nutrition and emotions?

The findings also prompted researchers to consider the possibility of shared cerebral circulation underlying regulation of both nutritional and emotional status. It is already known that areas like the amygdala are crucial for the regulation of emotions. Similarly, the transmission of one type of neuron in the hypothalamus causes more hunger, while another type inhibits food, the researchers conclude. (As)

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Christina Cherry
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