Eating Disorders Blog

Few parents have to ask twice for their kids to drink a milkshake. Someone who's recovering from an eating disorder has a harder time, but downing these tasty treats is part of a relatively new approach that has promising results.

"Known as Behavioral Family Therapy, or the Maudsley Approach, parents are called upon to supervise the eating habits of their anorexic child, feeding them high-calorie meals like milkshakes and macaroni and cheese until they regain a healthy weight."

The National Institutes of Health is in the process of comparing the Maudsley Approach to more common treatments. The NIH study will take place at six centers nationwide, and will involve 240 adolescents.
Source: MediLexicon

Labels: treatment, recovery

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Females with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa become dangerously underweight, and they actually lose gray matter in their brains. However, once they recover and regain weight, their brains recover too, according to a new study from Yale University.

• Dr. Christine Roberto and her colleagues used brain imaging technology to compare the brains of 32 adult female patients with anorexia to the brains of 21 healthy women.
• The women with eating disorders showed reductions in their brain volume at the beginning of the study.
• As they gained weight, they recover their loss of gray matter.
• Anorexia does not appear to affect the white matter in the brain. Dr. Roberto said she was unsure if such brain loss during anorexia nervosa had an effect on cognitive ability.

This study appeared in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

 

Labels: anorexia, recovery

Posted By: Eating Disorders Blog 1 Comment