Researchers uncover another potential platform for deep brain stimulation, treating patients with chronic and treatment-resistant anorexia.
In what some are calling “a world 1st,” researchers reported some success in treating severe anorexia patients via implanted electrodes that delivered electrical energy to the regions of the brain associated with emotion.
The study enrolled 6 patients to receive the experimental treatment, reporting that 3 of the 6 achieved weight gain and 4 of the 6 reported changes in mood, anxiety, control over their urges to binge and purge and other symptoms associated with anorexia.
“There is an urgent need for additional therapies to help those suffering from severe anorexia,” researcher Dr. Blake Woodside said in prepared remarks. “Eating disorders have the highest death rate of any mental illness and more and more women are dying from anorexia.”
