Bulimia's hormonal link.A brain hormone associated with learning and stress may contribute to the development of bulimia nervosa bulimia nervosa Eating disorder, mostly in women, in which excessive concern with weight and body shape leads to binge eating followed by compensatory behaviour such as self-induced vomiting or the excessive use of laxatives or diuretics. , a disorder marked by bouts of binge eating followed by self-induced vomiting or laxative laxative, drug or other substance used to stimulate the action of the intestines in eliminating waste from the body. The term laxative usually refers to a mild-acting substance; substances of increasingly drastic action are known as cathartics, purgatives, use. Previous research implicated the same hormone, vasopressin vasopressin (văz'ōprĕs`ĭn): see antidiuretic hormone. , in another eating disorder, anorexia nervosa, as wll as obsessive-compulsive disorder, according to psychiatrist Mark A. Demitrack of the University of Michigan (body, education) University of Michigan - A large cosmopolitan university in the Midwest USA. Over 50000 students are enrolled at the University of Michigan's three campuses. The students come from 50 states and over 100 foreign countries. Medical Center in Ann Arbor and his colleagues. In the June JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY AND METABOLISM, Demitrack's team reports that average vasopressin levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of 24 women with bulimia nervosa exceeded those in 11 healty women. Animal studies suggest vasopressin prolongs memory for learned associations. In women with bulimia nervosa, vasopressin may enhance a conditioned binge-purge cycle, the researchers theorize the·o·rize v. the·o·rized, the·o·riz·ing, the·o·riz·es v.intr. To formulate theories or a theory; speculate. v.tr. To propose a theory about. . The avoidance of weight gain through this tactic then reinforces a preoccupation with body image, they add. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion