Active clinical trials for "Bulimia"

BEST4US compares the effectiveness of two forms of self-help interventions that target college students, ages 18 years to 22 years, who report binge eating. The overall question is whether one or the other format will prevent excess weight gain and lead to differences in eating behaviors. The two formats are (1) "pure self-help" (receipt of a self-help program via book form or online texts) and (2) a combination of the self-help program and guidance provided by a trained peer coach over the course of 8 weekly sessions.

The purpose of this study is to examine biological (e.g., energy expenditure, neuroendocrine and appetitive hormones)and behavioral (e.g., binge eating and purging) correlates of weight suppression and current dieting status in women with bulimia nervosa. The investigators have differentiated between a diet-induced long-term energy imbalance (weight suppression, or the difference between one's highest-ever body weight and current weight) and a short-term energy imbalance (current dieting to either lose weight or avoid weight gain). This study will elucidate how two common yet largely unexplored types of dieting influence biological and behavioral variables in patients with bulimia nervosa, which could lead to modifications of prevailing models of bulimia nervosa and new strategies for improving treatment outcome.

The purpose of this proposed project is to test whether several biological factors (such as elevated brain reward region and attention region response to high-calorie foods, weaker inhibitory region response to high-calorie foods, habitual caloric deprivation, and elevated limbic region responsivity) increase the risk of problematic eating (bingeing and purging) in female adolescents.

The proposed study will examine the role of reward and emotion in women with and without a history of binge eating. It is important to understand how the brain responds to reward and emotion in binge eating in order to identify different pathways toward binge eating and provide individualized targets for treatment. This is particularly important in light of the fact that for many patients, the current treatments for binge eating are not effective.

A substantial percentage of individuals with bulimia nervosa (BN) also meet criteria for a co-occurring substance use disorder, such as alcohol abuse or dependence; however, research examining this sub-group of patients with BN is limited. Understanding characteristics common to both eating and alcohol use disorders may enhance understanding of the mechanisms that could contribute to the co-occurrence and perpetuation of these disorders. Individuals with BN and alcohol use disorders appear to share some behavioral traits, and therefore, the primary aim of the current study is to compare patients with BN with and without an alcohol use disorder and normal controls on measures assessing an individual's mood and ability to perform certain tasks. Participants will be asked to complete computer-administered and paper-and-pencil assessments and two laboratory test meals on separate days. By probing the underpinnings of BN and alcohol use disorders, the investigators can determine whether these disorders have a shared diathesis, which will lay an essential foundation for future research to examine biological and genetic correlates of these disorders. Finally, as little is known about the treatment of patients with BN and a co-occurring alcohol use disorder, an exploratory aim of the current study is evaluate the suitability and efficacy of a 20-session cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) addressing both bulimic symptoms and alcohol use.

Binge Eating Disorder (BED) may be associated with he development of obesity. However, the pathogenesis of BED is currently unclear, thus making the development of treatment and prevention strategies for BED difficult. Differences in the mechanisms regulating food intake may go some way to reveal potential mechanisms for BED.The purpose of this study is to investigate the responses of key gut-derived hormones that are associated with the regulation of food intake and functional brain activity to food cues using fMRI in BED patients and weight matched controls.

Executive functions are part of the high-level cognitive processes essential to the proper functioning of human cognition. They consist mainly of flexibility, updating and inhibition. Some studies have shown a correlation between executive disorders (impaired executive function) and psychiatric disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder or phobias. These executive disorders are related to dysfunctions of the fronto-striatal loops. In addition, other studies have investigated the link that may exist between eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia nervosa and executive functioning. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorders are eating disorders characterized by a dysfunction in food intake with restriction of food or compulsions as well as strong concerns about the body schema. Concerning the executive functioning, these studies highlight a lack of cognitive flexibility for patients with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa but also dysfunctions depending on the type of pathology (anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa). These studies also highlight the beneficial effects of cognitive remediation on people with eating disorders. However, the investigation of the inhibitory control has not yet been specifically studied. Moreover, since eating disorders are structurally different, a comparison between several pathologies would be interesting to consider. The aim of this study is to determine if a dysfunction of inhibitory control can be highlighted in people with eating disorders. This study would also allow further researches about cognitive remediation suitable for the specific difficulties encountered in these diseases.

Binge-Eating-Disorder (BED) is a common eating disorder characterized by recurring episodes of uncontrollable eating. The underlying neural mechanisms are largely unknown. However, dysfunctional hormonal satiety signaling as well as dysfunctional neural processing of food cues are discussed as possible casual factors in the development and maintenance of this disorder. Additional research is needed to specify the exact contribution of these observations and how they interact with each other. Accordingly, the current study plans to investigate metabolic gut-brain signaling to better understand the underlying causes of abnormal eating behavior. To this end, 25 healthy normal weight control participants as well as 25 patients with BED will be recruited. The responsivity of the hypothalamus (i.e., the core region of homeostatic control) and its interaction with the mesocorticolimbic reward system will be assessed by applying a single-blind, randomized, crossover design of intravenous infusion of glucose or NaCl. This approach allows the study of gut-brain signaling to the hypothalamus and the reward system by controlling for sensory aspects of food intake (sight, smell, and taste). The interaction between the hypothalamus and the mesocorticolimbic reward system will be investigated using an effective connectivity analysis. FMRI with high spatial resolution and with an optimized protocol for the investigation of the hypothalamus and the mesocorticolimbic reward system will be employed. A better understanding of the underlying psychobiological mechanisms of BED is a fundamental requirement for the development of improved prevention and treatment strategies

Specific aims are to: Assess variability in performance on state-level measures of working memory (WM) delivered via Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). The investigators expect WM performance to vary over the course of a day across participants, and to be poorer and more variable among youth with overweight/obesity and loss of control (LOC) eating relative to overweight/obese and non-overweight controls. Investigate the relationship between state WM and eating behavior. The investigators expect that poorer momentary WM will predict an increased likelihood of LOC eating as assessed via EMA, and greater energy intake and poorer dietary quality as assessed via dietary recall, across participants. The investigators expect these effects to be strongest among youth with concomitant overweight/obesity and LOC eating.

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.