Active clinical trials for "Feeding and Eating Disorders"

We hypothesize that memantine may be a safe and effective treatment for moderate to severe binge eating disorder associated with obesity. During this 12-week, open-label, outpatient study, male and female subjects between the ages of 18 and 65 years who have moderate to severe binge eating disorder and are obese will be treated with open-label memantine. Following this 12-week treatment phase, subjects may be eligible to continue into an extension phase which will last an additional 12 weeks. During the extension phase subjects will continue open-label memantine treatment.

While parents are considered essential for the effective treatment of adolescents with anorexia nervosa, the most effective manner to involve parents in treatment is unknown. Given reports of high caregiver burden among parents of this clinical group, finding treatments that minimize parent burden while improving the child's eating disorder symptoms is essential. This investigation will examine the preliminary effectiveness of a parent skills group and adolescent skills group compared to family therapy for the treatment of adolescent anorexia nervosa. The target of this intervention is the improvement of eating disorder symptoms in the child and improving self-efficacy, emotion regulation, and perceived burden in the parent. The effectiveness of this experimental treatment group (Group Parent Training for the parents/Adolescent Skills Training for the adolescent) will be compared to the Maudsley model of family therapy. The effectiveness of the group program will be examined by exploring changes within individuals over time as well as via comparisons across treatment conditions. Results from this investigation will be used to calculate treatment effect sizes in the design of a larger, fully powered, randomized clinical trial.

The primary objective is to assess the effect of rimonabant compared to placebo on weight loss over a period of 6 months when prescribed with a mild hypocaloric diet in obese patients with binge eating disorder. The secondary objectives are: to assess the effect of rimonabant on the number of binge episodes per week, to assess the effect of rimonabant on eating behavior using the Binge Eating Scale (BES) and Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ), to evaluate the safety and tolerability of rimonabant over a period of 6 months.

This study will compare two different approaches for the treatment for Binge Eating Disorder.

Binge-eating behavior is a central feature of eating disorders (e.g., binge-eating disorder, bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa-binge-eating/purging subtype) and is associated with higher rates of psychopathology, psychosocial impairment, medical comorbidity, and more severe obesity, all of which pose significant public health problems. Passive detection of binge eating episodes combined with a context-based reminder intervention could assist a patient in resuming healthy eating patterns. This study will test a smartwatch app that identifies binge eating behavior and provides CBT strategies to the patient after the episode.

There is evidence that impairment of impulse regulation is involved in the development and maintenance of eating disorders, especially in Binge Eating Disorder (BED). BED is characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating with experienced loss of control over eating. Controlling impulsive behaviour, cognitive flexibility, planning and decision making are key abilities of impulse regulation. Some of these impaired cognitive functions are linked to decreased activity of certain brain regions. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a well-established method to alter brain activity. In the current project, we explore if a computer-assisted training programme for patients with BED that is combined with tDCS is feasible and able to ameliorate impulse regulation and impulsive eating behaviour. We hypothesize that the cognitive training programme with additional tDCS will result in a greater decrease of BED symptoms and a stronger increase in impulse regulation skills compared with the cognitive training programme without tDCS by using a placebo stimulation.

Childhood obesity is a problem of high prevalence and repercussions in adulthood. It is mostly due to inadequate life habits, modifiable through preventive strategies. The objective was to evaluate in the medium term the effectiveness of an intervention on adherence to the Mediterranean diet pattern in preschoolers. Method: Community trial with two groups, in children between 3-5 years. The experimental group conducted a school garden and the usual contents on human body and health were taught in the control. Two schools were selected by cluster sampling, whose first unit of randomization were the educational areas followed by schools. The adaptation to the Mediterranean diet pattern was evaluated using the KIDMED questionnaire and weight, height, BMI and sociodemographic variables were controlled.

Eating disorders are difficult to treat. Some forms of treatment have already been found to be effective, nevertheless chronicity is a major problem. For example, both cognitive behavioral therapy and family therapy (FBT; family-based treatment) appear to be effective treatment methods, in which FBT distinguishes itself primarily in its long-term effect. However, eating disorders persist in 20 to 25 percent of cases, only 46 percent of patients with Anorexia Nervosa fully recover and one third only partially improve. Since the mortality rate of this mental disorder is particularly high, it is necessary to keep looking to improve treatment. Because emotion regulation problems play an important role in the cause and maintenance of an eating disorder, more emotion-focused therapies may improve treatment outcome. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is a treatment that has a strong focus on emotions regulation, but so far only limited evidence has been found for the effectiveness of this type of therapy in eating disorders. Some studies show that art therapy (AT; art therapy) can contribute to a more adaptive regulation of emotions. However, this type of therapy has not been studied in the context of eating disorders yet. AT is an experiential form of therapy in which art techniques and supplies (including drawing, painting, clay, etc.) are used methodically with a therapeutic purpose. The idea that creative expression can perpetuate or improve mental well-being has been accepted worldwide for many years. Despite the long history of practical applications, to date little evidence exist on the effectiveness of this form of treatment. There's growing worldwide interest in scientific research and the emphasis on evidence-based practice (EBP) for this form of treatment. In a recent study, Lock and colleagues compare AT with cognitive remediation therapy (CRT) and the added value of both in a sample of adolescents with anorexia nervosa combines with obsessive-compulsive problems. Both CRT and AT are offered in this study in combination with family based therapy (FBT). The group in which the combination of FBT and AT was offered yielded better results than those in which FBT is combined with CRT. Study hypothesis: the investigators expect that complementing treatment as usual (TAU) with art therapy (AT) will lead to a decrease in emotion regulation problems in patients with an eating disorder in comparison with TAU only, without AT.

The Personalized Treatment Study creates an individualized network of symptoms for a participant with a current eating disorder. This network will be used to develop a personalized treatment intervention. This study aims to 1) determine if personalized treatments can be conducted using a network analysis of patient symptoms, and 2) to assess the effectiveness of network-informed personalized treatment for participants with eating disorders.

Mood and circadian rhythm disruptions are associated with binge eating (BE). BE is a discrete, episodic behavior characterized by 1) eating an objectively large amount of food and 2) experiencing a subjective sense of loss of control. BE episodes are often preceded by negative mood states, and a subtype of individuals with BE has high levels of negative moods. This group has more comorbid psychopathology and a poorer response to treatment. Thus, understanding the role of negative mood is a critical area for research on BE. Individuals with BE demonstrate disruptions in several circadian rhythms, including diurnal meal timing, hormone patterns (e.g., daily cortisol rhythms), and mood variations. The most potent synchronizer of circadian rhythms is light. Thus, exposure to light may explain other phenomena that fluctuate similarly, such as mood and the occurrence of BE. Mood is subject to the influence of light, and BE is also influenced by exposure to bright light. It is unknown whether regulating circadian rhythms via regular exposure to light improves BE through its effects on mood or via changes in other biological or behavioral rhythms. This knowledge can inform the development of treatments targeting biobehavioral mechanisms that maintain BE and indicate for whom this may be most effective. This project aims to test the roles of negative mood and circadian rhythms in the relationship between light exposure and BE and identify subtypes of individuals in whom this effect is strong. The investigators hypothesize that individuals exposed to less natural bright light will experience more frequent BE, more negative mood, and a blunted morning cortisol response. The investigators further hypothesize that manipulating exposure to artificial bright light will reduce the frequency of BE and negative mood and increase the morning cortisol response. Finally, the investigators hypothesize that the effects of this artificial bright light exposure on BE frequency will be mediated by changes in negative mood, which itself will be accounted for by changes in circadian rhythms as indicated by the morning cortisol response. Additionally, the investigators have two moderation hypotheses: that the effects of artificial bright light exposure on BE will be greater for those who fit the high negative mood type than those who do not and that the effects will be greater for individuals with a blunted morning cortisol response at baseline than for those without.