Anorexia cures brain
June 26, 2009 – 7:00 pm
British and Japanese researchers have found that anorexia deficits observed in BDNF protein disappear after recovery. This means that for the healing of an illness does not want to remedy the genetic code.
The study of Japanese psychiatrists and their British colleagues, was attended by 29 women suffering from anorexia, 18 former patients, which doctors previously recognized recovered, and the control group of 28 healthy people. Surveys and analysis of blood of all participants in the experiment allowed to determine what parameters are changing during the illness and subsequent recovery period.
Death of dystrophy
anorexia refers to disorders related to eating, when the suffering of the people (usually women) are beginning to excessively restrict their eating. Despite the fact that the appetite of patients often remains, they are obsessed with ideas of weight loss, weight loss and fight allegedly observed them complete.
Despite the fact that the passion diets in society is considered a relatively innocuous as well as the standard of female beauty is sometimes considered thin girls, anorexia is a serious medical problem. In varying degrees, exposed to the disease more than 1% of women, of whom no treatment is not less than 5% eventually die of malnutrition. The total number of deaths from anorexia calculate slozhno.No American psychiatrists in 2001, spoke of the 145 cases recorded in the United States annually.
Anoreksiki obsessed with the idea of reducing weight to the last: they continue to refuse food, shall be terminated when the beginning of menstruation or drop out the hair and disrupt internal organs. The effects of the disease are similar to the effects of hunger among the victims of humanitarian disasters. The only difference is that anorexia affects the residents very fortunate countries, including Russia. Suffering from anorexia in these countries have enough food, but because of a number of psychological problems and genetic factors, they simply refuse it.
Scientists against anorexia
In the latest research, doctors discovered something previously elude their attention: the reduction of BDNF protein in victims of anorexia proved reversible. That is, those who perebolel anorexia a few years ago, the level of BDNF, necessary for the growth of nerve cells back to the performance standards.
Opening of BDNF protein and its ability to restore its level after recovery was only the next page of a long search by scientists causes anorexia. Several different groups of doctors and biologists around the world studied the role of this protein from the mid 1990’s. We used almost all the achievements of modern science to determine how BDNF may be associated with the death of young women (anorexia most prevalent among teenagers) of malnutrition in the very fortunate countries.
The protein was injected laboratory rats – those hudeli. Specialists in genetic engineering to create mutant mice that have been damaged by BDNF-gene protein. Doctors from Spain analyzed the genome of more than 1 thousand patients from five European countries, and learned that many of them in a certain area of DNA was detected «breakdown»: BDNF gene contains a defect that could lead to disease.
It would seem, found the genetic cause of disease. But the new work has forced scientists to revise the existing views.
changes occur in the brain
As after the recovery of protein levels is the norm, scientists assumed that the quantity in the body is determined not only genes. This in turn means that, to get rid of the disease do not need to remedy the genetic code. Patients have a chance to cope with illness and other more accessible means, including recourse to psychotherapists.
The scientists who conducted the study, known as essential for the assessment of recovery of protein BDNF, but specify that in order to fully explore its role in the development of disease will require more long-term studies.
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