The Behavioral Pharmacology of Anorexigenic Drugs in Nonhuman Primates: 30 Years of Progress.
The behavioral pharmacology of anorexigenic drugs in nonhuman primates: 30 years of progress.
Filed under: Eating Disorders
Behav Pharmacol. 2012 Jul 5;
Foltin RW
Comparatively few studies over the past 30 years have used pharmacological manipulations as a means of understanding processes underlying feeding behavior of nonhuman primates. In the 1970s and early 1980s, four laboratories provided data on the anorexigenic effects of a range of drugs on rhesus monkeys and baboons, and a fifth laboratory studied the effects of neuropeptides on feeding behavior of baboons. There were differences in the way anorexigenic drugs altered eating topography, and those that increased dopamine levels had greater abuse liability than those that increased serotonin levels. Studies in the 1980s and 1990s used foraging models and principles of behavioral economics to understand food-drug interactions. Experimenter-given anorexigenic drugs did not function as economic substitutes for food. Recent studies have examined the effects of a range of drugs on consumption of highly palatable food and model diet-induced obesity. Although some drugs, including stimulants, N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonists, and a cannabinoid antagonist increased the latency to standard food consumption, there was little evidence for a selective effect of any drug on highly palatable food consumption. Results obtained in nonhuman primates did not always confirm those observed in rodents. Future studies looking at sex differences and social factors may provide insight into factors related to human obesity.
HubMed – eating
Friends Don’t Let Friends Eat Cookies: Effects of Restrictive Eating Norms on Consumption Among Friends.
Filed under: Eating Disorders
Appetite. 2012 Jul 5;
Howland M, Hunger J, Mann T
Social norms are thought to be a strong influence over eating, but this hypothesis has only been experimentally tested with groups of strangers, and correlational studies using actual friends lack important controls. We manipulate an eating norm in the laboratory and explore its influence within established friendships. In two studies we randomly assigned groups of three friends to a restrictive norm condition, in which two of the friends were secretly instructed to restrict their intake of appetizing foods, or a control condition, in which the friends were not instructed to restrict their eating. The third friend’s consumption was measured while eating with the other two friends and while eating alone. In both studies, participants consumed less food when eating with friends who had been given restricting instructions compared to those who had not been given those instructions. In Study 2, participants who ate with restricting friends also continued to restrict their eating when alone. Experimentally manipulating social norms within established friendships is possible, and these norms can influence consumption in those social groups and carry over into non-social eating situations. These findings may suggest mechanisms through which eating behaviors may spread through social networks, as well as an environmental factor that may be amenable to change.
HubMed – eating
The sylvatic transmission cycle of Trypanosoma cruzi in a rural area in the humid Chaco of Argentina.
Filed under: Eating Disorders
Acta Trop. 2012 Jul 3;
Alvarado-Otegui JA, Ceballos LA, Orozco MM, Enriquez GF, Cardinal MV, Cura C, Schijman AG, Kitron U, Gürtler RE
Little is known about the sylvatic transmission cycle of Trypanosoma cruzi in the Gran Chaco ecoregion. We conducted surveys to identify the main sylvatic hosts of T. cruzi, parasite discrete typing units and vector species involved in Pampa del Indio, a rural area in the humid Argentinean Chaco. A total of 44 mammals from 14 species was captured and examined for infection by xenodiagnosis and polymerase chain reaction amplification of the hyper-variable region of kinetoplast DNA minicircles of T. cruzi (kDNA-PCR). Ten (22.7%) mammals were positive by xenodiagnosis or kDNA-PCR. Four of 11 (36%) Didelphis albiventris (white-eared opossums) and six of nine (67%) Dasypus novemcinctus (nine-banded armadillos) were positive by xenodiagnosis and or kDNA-PCR. Rodents, other armadillo species, felids, crab-eating raccoons, hares and rabbits were not infected. Positive animals were highly infectious to the bugs that fed upon them as determined by xenodiagnosis. All positive opossums were infected with T. cruzi I and all positive nine-banded armadillos with T. cruzi III. Extensive searches in sylvatic habitats using 718 Noireau trap-nights only yielded Triatoma sordida whereas no bug was collected in 26 light-trap nights. Four armadillos or opossums fitted with a spool-and-line device were successfully tracked to their refuges; only one Panstrongylus geniculatus was found in an armadillo burrow. No sylvatic triatomine was infected with T. cruzi by microscopical examination or kDNA-PCR. Our results indicate that two independent sylvatic transmission cycles of T. cruzi occur in the humid Chaco. The putative vectors of both cycles need to be identified conclusively.
HubMed – eating
The multiple dimensions of the social anxiety spectrum in mood disorders.
Filed under: Eating Disorders
J Psychiatr Res. 2012 Jul 5;
Fournier JC, Cyranowski JM, Rucci P, Cassano GB, Frank E
Major depressive disorder and bipolar spectrum disorders are debilitating conditions associated with severe impairment. The presence of co-occurring social phobia can make the clinical course of these disorders even more challenging. To better understand the nature of social anxiety in the context of ongoing mood disorders, we report the results of exploratory factor analyses of the Social Phobia Spectrum Self-Report Instrument (SHY), a 162-item measure designed to capture the full spectrum of manifestations and features associated with social anxiety experienced across the lifespan. We examined data from 359 adult outpatients diagnosed with major depressive disorder and 403 outpatients diagnosed with a bipolar spectrum disorder. The measure was divided into its two components: the SHY-General (SHY-G), reflecting general social anxiety features, and the SHY-Specific (SHY-S), reflecting anxiety in specific situations. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted for each using tetrachoric correlation matrices and an unweighted least squares estimator. Item invariance was evaluated for important patient subgroups. Five factors were identified for the SHY-G, representing general features of social anxiety: Fear of Social Disapproval, Childhood Social Anxiety, Somatic Social Anxiety, Excessive Agreeableness, and Behavioral Submission. Seven specific-situation factors were identified from the SHY-S: Writing in Public, Dating, Public Speaking, Eating in Public, Shopping Fears, Using Public Restrooms, and Unstructured Social Interactions. The identified dimensions provide clinically valuable information about the nature of the social fears experienced by individuals diagnosed with mood disorders and could help guide the development of tailored treatment strategies for individuals with co-occurring mood disorders and social anxiety.
HubMed – eating
Fermentable Fibers do not Affect Satiety or Food Intake by Women Who do not Practice Restrained Eating.
Filed under: Eating Disorders
J Acad Nutr Diet. 2012 Jul 5;
Karalus M, Clark M, Greaves KA, Thomas W, Vickers Z, Kuyama M, Slavin J
BACKGROUND: Fiber is thought to enhance satiety, although not all fibers are equally effective. Colonic fermentation may influence satiety and food intake. OBJECTIVE: To test the satiating properties of four isolated fibers added to chocolate crisp bars. DESIGN: Within-subject preload design with repeated measures. Each participant completed five conditions, presented in random order. SUBJECTS: Participants were 22 adult women who do not practice restrained eating (body mass index 18 to 29). INTERVENTION: The experimental conditions were four fiber treatments: 10 g oligofructose, inulin, soluble corn fiber, or resistant wheat starch in chocolate crisp bars. A no-added-fiber bar was evaluated as the control. The night before each treatment, participants consumed a dinner bar containing 10 g of the same fiber given the next morning. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Repeated ratings of feelings related to hunger and fullness at the lunch meal were the main measures. Secondary outcomes included breath hydrogen and methane, gastrointestinal symptoms, energy consumed at an ad libitum lunch, and energy from 24-hour dietary recall. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Mixed-effect linear models with random intercept for participants to model within-subject correlation. RESULTS: All treatments were well tolerated. No differences were found in subjective satiety during the morning or food intake at lunch or over 24 hours. The oligofructose bar produced the greatest increase in breath hydrogen, and the most bloating and flatulence symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Functional fibers incorporated into chocolate bars at high fiber doses produce greater gastrointestinal symptoms than control, but do not alter satiety, hunger, or food intake compared with control in the short term.
HubMed – eating
25th Anniversary of NEDAwareness Week – Join us in participating in the 25th anniversary of NEDAwareness Week, from February 26th – March 3rd, 2012 and raise awareness in your community. Find out more and register as a participant here: www.nationaleatingdisorders.org
Talking about weight might give kids eating disorder
Filed under: Eating Disorders
Two out of three parents fear that talking to their kids about their weight might give them an eating disorder.
Read more on Firstpost
Eating Disorders Effect All Ages
Filed under: Eating Disorders
The women also reported using diet pills, excessive exercise and laxatives to lose weight.
Read more on WVNS-TV
Six Weeks To OMG: Could Ice-Cold Baths Trigger Eating Disorders? (PICTURES)
Filed under: Eating Disorders
The eating plan that has outsold the protein-friendly Dukan diet and is currently No 1 on Apple itunes UK chart has come under attack for its extreme advice. Six Weeks To OMG Diet: Get Skinnier Than All Your Friends advocates skipping breakfast and …
Read more on Huffington Post UK
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