Fed:Study links obesity to brain disorder

AAP General News (Australia)
08-24-2011
Fed:Study links obesity to brain disorder

By Belinda Tasker, AAP Medical Correspondent

SYDNEY, Aug 24 AAP - It seems an odd idea, but scientists believe giving obese people
the same psychological counselling as those with anorexia nervosa could help their weight
battle.

The Australian scientists came up with the theory after discovering that although obese
people and anorexics weigh in at opposite ends of the scales, they share a similar condition
affecting the brain.

Both groups have executive function disorders (EFD), which means they have problems
organising their daily lives.

Previous studies have linked anorexia to EFD, with scientists pointing to the rigidity
and tight control those with the eating disorder exert over not just food but their entire
lives as evidence of the brain disorder.

Researchers from the University of NSW (UNSW) reviewed 38 studies on obesity and high-level
brain functions and found obese people were prone to EFD.

But whereas EFD can make anorexics keep a tight rein on things, it is the opposite
for obese people, who are often too flexible and find it difficult to solve problems and
achieve goals.

When it comes to food, the scientists believe EFD can play havoc with an obese person's
ability to plan diets and their ability to associate bad food choices with weight gain.

For anorexics, there has been some success in treating them using a type of psychological
counselling known as cognitive remediation therapy, which strengthens their thinking skills
in the hope they will become more flexible in their lives.

The therapy was developed at King's College London and is also used to treat people
with schizophrenia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The UNSW researchers believe similar success could be achieved with obese people and
help improve their planning skills and eating behaviour.

Lead researcher Evelyn Smith said obesity was in part a brain disorder and not simply
down to a lifestyle of too much food and too little exercise.

She said that with no cure for obesity and the failure of diets, education and exercise
programs to help obese people shed their excess weight for good, cognitive remediation
therapy was worth investigating as a treatment option.

"Dieting is difficult," Dr Smith, whose findings on obesity and EFD were published
by the international journal Obesity Reviews, told AAP.

"So together with cognitive remediation therapy they might be able to maintain their
diet for a long period of time and change their lifestyle behaviours which have been maintaining
their obesity."

Dr Smith has launched a trial involving 10 obese people undergoing two weekly sessions
of cognitive remediation therapy for a month to see if it helps them lose weight.

Her colleague Lesley Campbell, an obesity expert and UNSW conjoint professor, said
it was hard to know if the therapy sessions would work, but given the lack of successful
treatment options it was worth a go.

"We have to try and get the concept out there that obesity is not about a group of
people willfully overeating," Professor Campbell said.

"There's something in the brain that makes it difficult.

"It's a very desperate situation so (using cognitive remediation therapy is) something
that is worth trying."

AAP bt/jhp

KEYWORD: OBESITY

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