Cortico-Limbic Responsiveness to High-Calorie Food Images Predicts Weight Status Among Women.

Cortico-limbic responsiveness to high-calorie food images predicts weight status among women.

Int J Obes (Lond). 2013 Mar 5;
Killgore WD, Weber M, Schwab ZJ, Kipman M, Deldonno SR, Webb CA, Rauch SL

Objectives:Excessive weight gain and obesity are currently among the world’s major threats to health. Women show significantly higher rates of obesity and eating disorders relative to men, but the factors contributing to these gender differences remain uncertain. We examined the correlations between regional brain responses to images of high-calorie versus low-calorie foods and self-reported motivational status, including ratings of general appetite, overeating propensity, state hunger and desire for specific foods.Subjects:Thirty-eight healthy right-handed adults (22 male; 16 female) ages 18-45 participated. There were no differences between males and females with regard to age or body mass index (BMI).Results:Overall, motivational status correlated significantly with activation within the amygdala, insula and orbitofrontal cortex. Regional activation was then used to predict BMI, an indicator of long-term food consumption and energy expenditure. The combined model was significant, accounting for 76% of the variance in BMI for women, whereas the same regions were not predictive of weight status among men.Conclusions:Findings suggest that long-term weight status is related to visual responsiveness to calorie-dense food imagery among women.International Journal of Obesity advance online publication, 5 March 2013; doi:10.1038/ijo.2013.26. HubMed – eating

The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Review of Meta-analyses.

Cognit Ther Res. 2012 Oct 1; 36(5): 427-440
Hofmann SG, Asnaani A, Vonk IJ, Sawyer AT, Fang A

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) refers to a popular therapeutic approach that has been applied to a variety of problems. The goal of this review was to provide a comprehensive survey of meta-analyses examining the efficacy of CBT. We identified 269 meta-analytic studies and reviewed of those a representative sample of 106 meta-analyses examining CBT for the following problems: substance use disorder, schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, depression and dysthymia, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, somatoform disorders, eating disorders, insomnia, personality disorders, anger and aggression, criminal behaviors, general stress, distress due to general medical conditions, chronic pain and fatigue, distress related to pregnancy complications and female hormonal conditions. Additional meta-analytic reviews examined the efficacy of CBT for various problems in children and elderly adults. The strongest support exists for CBT of anxiety disorders, somatoform disorders, bulimia, anger control problems, and general stress. Eleven studies compared response rates between CBT and other treatments or control conditions. CBT showed higher response rates than the comparison conditions in 7 of these reviews and only one review reported that CBT had lower response rates than comparison treatments. In general, the evidence-base of CBT is very strong. However, additional research is needed to examine the efficacy of CBT for randomized-controlled studies. Moreover, except for children and elderly populations, no meta-analytic studies of CBT have been reported on specific subgroups, such as ethnic minorities and low income samples. HubMed – eating

Impact of total pancreatectomy: short- and long-term assessment.

HPB (Oxford). 2013 Jan 29;
Barbier L, Jamal W, Dokmak S, Aussilhou B, Corcos O, Ruszniewski P, Belghiti J, Sauvanet A

BACKGROUND: The aim was to assess the outcome of a total pancreatectomy (TP). METHODS: From 1993 to 2010, 56 patients underwent an elective TP for intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasia (n = 42), endocrine tumours (n = 6), adenocarcinoma (n = 5), metastases (n = 2) and chronic pancreatitis (n = 1). Morbidity and survival were analysed. Long-term survivors were assessed prospectively using quality-of-life (QoL) questionnaires. RESULTS: Five patients developed gastric venous congestion intra-operatively. Post-operative morbidity and mortality rates were 45% and 3.6%, respectively. An anastomotic ulcer occurred in seven patients, but none after proton pump inhibitor therapy. There were five inappropriate TPs according to definitive pathological examination. Overall 3- and 5-year survival rates were 62% and 55% respectively; five deaths were related to TP (two postoperative deaths, one hypoglycaemia, one ketoacidosis and one anastomotic ulcer). Prospective evaluation of 25 patients found that 14 had been readmitted for diabetes and that all had hypoglycaemia within the past month. The glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) was 7.8% (6.3-10.3). Fifteen patients experienced weight loss. The QLQ-C30 questionnaire showed a decrease in QoL predominantly because of fatigue and diarrhoea, and the QLQ-PAN26 showed an impact on bowel habit, flatulence and eating-related items. DISCUSSION: Morbidity and mortality rates of TP are acceptable, although diabetes- and TP-related mortality still occurs. Endocrine and exocrine insufficiency impacts on the long-term quality of life. HubMed – eating