An unusual technique can help patients with anorexia
Nausea as a way to lose weight has become a new object of research for scientists. So far, the experiments have affected only mice, but, as we know, they are just a stone's throw away from humans. German scientists from the Max Planck Institute have discovered a special type of neurons in the brain that are activated when a rodent is sick. As a result, appetite disappears. If everything goes well, in the future, at least a new method of combating overeating will be developed.
Suppressing appetite in biological species is one of the methods of survival. Various organisms suppress their feeding behavior in order to adapt to potentially harmful internal and external factors and survive. Some animals are able to maintain energy balance by secreting special hormones that suppress appetite. Eating behavior can also be suppressed by emotional states such as stress and anxiety.
It is known that biologically, motivation to eat is suppressed by a feeling of satiety, etc. aversive stimuli such as nausea. However, the mechanisms of appetite suppression by nausea are not yet well understood. Previously, it was believed that approximately the same area of the brain was responsible for the feelings of hunger, satiety and nausea. Now it turns out that different neurons seem to be responsible for each feeling. At least, German scientists have discovered those that control the feeling of nausea, and are also activated in response to the entry of something bitter into the body. These are the so-called CeA Dlk1 neurons. They turn on at a time when the body does not want to take food, but, on the contrary, wants to part with it. And at the same time (which is logical) they suppress appetite. As a result, the mouse does not eat, even if it is very hungry.
Scientists have learned to activate this process artificially – to activate these neurons in mice. In the experiment, rodents were first deprived of food for several hours and allowed to become very hungry, then they were given food, and then the “nausea neurons” were activated. As a result, the rodents abruptly abandoned their feeders.
There are other results – the feeling of nausea was simulated in animals, and then CeA Dlk1 neurons were blocked. Miraculously, nausea did not stop the mice from continuing to eat. Moreover, scientists have found that artificial activation of these neurons also suppresses the desire to drink alcohol, which opens up broad prospects for the treatment of alcoholism.
The researchers plan to transfer the successful experiment to humans. First of all, to combat the epidemics of our century – obesity. In Russia, for example, up to 62% of the adult population is overweight. However, the technique can also be useful for treating patients with anorexia nervosa: such people refuse to eat, causing themselves to artificially vomit. Thirty years ago it was believed that anorexia nervosa was a disease of 2-3% of the world's population. Ten years later, this figure had doubled. Today, according to the World Health Organization, this disease already affects 8% of the world's population. That is, over 30 years the number of anorexics in the world has increased 3 times. Today, anorexia has become the third most common chronic disease in adolescents. In Russia, symptoms of anorexia are recorded in every twentieth girl.
“Anorexia is one of the most difficult to treat diseases with unfavorable prognosis. Treatment of anorexia takes at least 5 years. The process is very difficult, and much depends on the patient and his desire to overcome the disease. Not only medications (mainly antidepressants), but also special psychological correction play a big role. Only about 60% of patients, after undergoing treatment, return to a healthy lifestyle. 20% have to be treated for life, and another 20% die. The most important thing in therapy is to teach patients to eat regularly and with pleasure. Therefore, if a reliable method of suppressing nausea and stimulating the sense of appetite is really developed, this could be great progress in the treatment of anorexia,” nutritionist Oleg Mitechkin told MK.
“It is possible to create different drugs that will affect these neurons in different ways. Suppress appetite in obesity and suppress nausea in anorexia or other conditions, for example, during chemotherapy for malignant tumors. But all this is in the future, for now we need to figure out whether all the links in the chain have been identified correctly, and whether there is any unobvious surprise hidden there. “Many more exciting experiments await the mice,” says therapist and military doctor Alexey Vodovozov.
Recent Comments