View clinical trials related to Eating Disorders.
Filter by:Currently, there is not a robust, testable neural model available that sufficiently explains the development and maintenance of anorexia nervosa (AN) a severe, often fatal, adolescent-onset eating disorder. Using state of the art neuroimaging and neuropsychological techniques, our objective is to identify neural mechanisms in the adolescent brain underlying AN. This is of high clinical relevance in as much as it will provide a robust platform for a diagnostic battery so that physicians can identify those who are prone to develop AN at a very early stage of life. The aim of this research plan is: 1) To develop knowledge of cognitive dysfunction in adolescents who have recently been diagnosed with AN, with a battery of cognitive tests during a series of clinical visits. 2) To provide a scientific basis for our knowledge about how the brain of an adolescent with an eating disorder differs from that of a healthy adolescent, by conducting functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging on adolescent females with AN.
Adoption, twin and family studies have reported that obesity has a strong heritable component and in particular, it has been suggested that BMI in adults is due to genetic influence rather than shared family environment. Binge eating in obese patients was described. Therefore, it has been proposed that binge eating disorder (BED) may contribute to obesity in some individuals. Pharmacological studies reported that topiramate plays an important role in the treatment of binge eating disorder. It has been observed improvement of co-occurring binge eating disorder in patients receiving topiramate for treatment of mood disorders. In addition, topiramate was associated with anorexia and weight loss in clinical trials with epilepsy patients. Also, topiramate has been demonstrated efficacy in pilot and controlled studies for binge eating disorder (BED) associated with obesity. Genetic studies will be important to elucidate the mechanism by which putative susceptibility variation in candidate genes influences in pharmacological improvement of binge eating disorder in obese patients treated with topiramate. Connecting drug response with relevant functional DNA variants and differences in brain regions represents the ultimate goal for pharmacogenetic research playing an important role in advancing this understanding. The use of brain imaging combined with genetics can aid in understanding the pathophysiological mechanism of the disease. Additionally, brain imaging has the ability to bridge between preclinical research and human pharmacological studies. This will be a naturalistic clinical study designed to analyze the effect of genetic variants and neurofunctional brain areas associated with food craving in patients with obesity and binge eating disorder responders to topiramate. Hypothesis: The use of topiramate in obese subjects with binge eating disorder is associated with a differential gene variants and different activation brain areas in subjects that showed a reduction of food craving and weight lost.
This study proposes to compare a brief Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) group intervention to an active control group in a sample of 154 overweight or obese binge eating Veterans who have completed the VA's national behavioral weight management program (MOVE!). This study anticipates that the ACT intervention will reduce binge eating and distress while improving functioning and maintenance of weight loss.
Given the cost of treating eating disorders and the substantial morbidity and mortality associated with these disorders, prevention of eating disorders has considerable public health significance. Female athletes represent an important population for prevention due to their risk for the Female Athlete Triad, which includes inadequate energy intake, irregular or cessation of menses, and osteoporosis. The proposed randomized controlled trial will provide important information regarding the efficacy, acceptability, and feasibility of implementing a brief eating disorder prevention and healthy living program within an existing social system of female athletes.
The current trial aims to investigate the impact of continuous feedback on dropout and outcome in group therapy. The hypothesis is that continuous feedback to patient and therapist on treatment progress and alliance will 1) increase adherence and 2) increase treatment outcome.
Obesity is a major US public health problem. Few obesity prevention programs have reduced risk for weight gain over follow-up and those that have are very intensive, making dissemination difficult and costly. A brief 3-hr selective prevention program (Healthy Weight) targeting young adults with body dissatisfaction involving participant-driven healthy dietary and physical activity lifestyle changes significantly reduced increases in body mass index (BMI) and obesity onset relative to alternative interventions and assessment-only controls through 3-yr follow-up, though effects were small in magnitude. To enhance efficacy, the investigators added dissonance-inducing activities regarding unhealthy dietary and activity practices, drawing from a highly efficacious dissonance-based eating disorder prevention program. A pilot trial found that this new Project Health intervention significantly reduced increases in BMI relative to both the Healthy Weight intervention and an educational brochure condition from pre to post. The investigators propose to conduct a rigorous multisite effectiveness trial that will test whether adding the dissonance-induction elements to the originally Healthy Weight intervention improves weight gain prevention effects. 360 college students at risk for future weight by virtue of their age and weight concerns will be randomized one of three conditions: (1) a refined 6-hr group-based dissonance-based Project Health, (2) a 6-hr group-based Healthy Weight intervention, or (3) a psychoeducational video ("Weight of the World") condition. Participants will complete assessments of % body fat, mediators (including objectively measured physical activity), moderators, and other outcomes at pre, post, and 6, 12, and 24 month follow-ups.
The investigators are studying a new treatment for one subtype of obesity. Obesity is not a disease. It is a symptom of several different diseases. These diseases have distinct etiologies, being caused by aberrations in different mechanisms. Forms of obesity caused by such non-critical mechanisms might be corrected fairly easily and safely. The investigators are interested in overeating and obesity that is caused by the opioidergic system. The opioidergic system appears to be responsible for a subtype of obesity associated with binge eating disorder (BED). People, especially with the right genetic predisposition, can become addicted to foods that release endorphins, in the way that people become addicted to exogenous opiates and other drugs that release endorphins. The particular application in our proposed clinical trial is for intranasal (IN) naloxone. The peak levels of naloxone were similar and the bioavailability of naloxone intranasally was 100% (the same) of that available IV." IN administration of naloxone has since been broadly tested in humans, as well, where it has been shown to be safe, with pharmacokinetics similar to those of naloxone given by injection .
This study investigates the hormones that the body produces in response to food intake and in response to stress, and the way that stress influences food intake. In particular, it compares the hormone levels and food intake of people with and without binge eating disorder. In order to find out how these appetite- and stress-related hormones are linked to brain activity, the study also includes an fMRI scan, a non-invasive procedure that looks at which regions of the brain are most active during a food-related scenario.
Athletes in particular elite athletes have obsessional food and body concerns, in bond with a worship of the performance more and more invading, which lead to clinical and subclinical eating disorders. These eating disorders differ according to the disciplines and are difficult to diagnose in athletes because there are insufficiently described. Our aim at estimating the frequency of eating disorders in athletes and describing eating disorders by means of somatic, dietetic and psychological evaluations.
Energy-restricted diets often require dieting rules, which forced the dieter to eat according to cognitive norms, which increase his vulnerability to external food cues. Allowing the recognition of internal hunger and satiety cues by using conscious food tasting could be helpful among restrained eaters to facilitate an internalized regulation of food intake. The objectives of the proposed study are to investigate among restrained women whether conscious food tasting can influence 1) attitudes and behaviors associated with food and eating; 2) reliance on hunger and satiety signals; and 3) development of taste and olfactory memory. Females (n=50) will be randomly assigned to: 1) experimental group (conscious food tasting intervention) (n=24), or 2) control group (n=26). The conscious food tasting intervention will be conducted by a registered dietitian into groups of ten to twelve women during six weekly 2-hour workshops. Women in the control group will not receive any intervention. Measurements will be taken at baseline, at the end of the intervention period, and at 12-week post-intervention. Restraint Scale, Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire, Mindful Eating Questionnaire, Intuitive Eating Scale, Body-Esteem Scale and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale will measure attitudes and behaviors associated with food and eating as well as some aspects related to psychological functioning. The Intuitive Eating Scale and a snack-meal taste rating task (visual analogue scales) will assess internal hunger/satiety cues. Vocabulary used to describe the foods will be recorded from the snack-meal taste rating task and use to assess taste and olfactory memory. Sensory capabilities will be assessed by odour detection and identification test, and a taste detection test. The proposed study will provide a better understanding of the effects of conscious food tasting on eating attitudes and behaviors, which is relevant to dietetic practice as it could help to promote sustainable healthy eating habits.