Binge-eating can be successfully treated through electrical brain stimulation at home, a study suggests.
The study found that in people who received the treatment – alongside a training programme to reduce attention to food – binge episodes were reduced from an average of about 20 times a month to six times a month within a six-week timeframe.
People in this group also reported that they lost up to 4kg (8.8lbs) from the start of the study to the six-week follow-up.
The gentle brain stimulation technique – called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) – targets patterns of behaviour that might be contributing to the loss of control around food, enabling people to shift entrenched thinking and behaviour around food.
It uses specialist equipment including a headcap with electrodes attached.
Binge-eating can be successfully treated through electrical brain stimulation at home, a study suggests (stock photo)
The brain stimulation was carried out alongside another method called attention bias modification training (ABMT), which involved computer sessions of up to 15 minutes. It trained participants to look towards low-calorie food cues and away from high-calorie food cues.
Dr Michaela Flynn, research associate at the institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London, and first author on the study, said: ‘Current treatments for binge-eating disorder are only effective for some people and many need further or different support to get well.
‘Our study is the first to look at a new option for home-based treatment that offers a different approach to treating binge-eating disorder.’
Dr Flynn added: ‘Participants commented that their mood felt lighter, which may be a key part of why they reported changes in eating behaviour and weight loss that lasted for some time after treatment ended.
The study found that in people who received the treatment – alongside a training programme to reduce attention to food – binge episodes were reduced from an average of about 20 times a month to six times a month within a six-week timeframe
‘Our findings are encouraging, and we want to explore this on a larger scale with more participants.’
Binge-eating disorder (BED) is a serious mental illness that can affect anyone of any age, gender, ethnicity or background.
People with the disorder have recurring episodes of losing control over their food intake, consuming lots of food in a short period of time until they are uncomfortably full.
The condition is typically accompanied by anxiety and low mood and linked to obesity and metabolic complications.
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