It is the first time that so-called Deep Brain Stimulation has been used in people with ‘binge eating disorder’, as this eating disorder is called. The first results of the trial, in which a handful of Americans participate, have been published in the scientific journal Nature Medicine.
People who suffer from the disorder literally cannot stop eating. They eat a lot in quick succession, even if they are not hungry; the compulsive feeling to eat remains. Patients are overweight.
The subjects underwent brain surgery, in which electrodes are placed at a specific location in the brain, which are connected to a battery under the skin. This allows small electrical pulses to be delivered to the tip of the electrode, affecting the brain.
A clear, positive effect is visible in the first two patients who took part. They say they have more control over what they eat and are much less hungry. “Sometimes I can just stop, breathe and say, ‘No,'” Roby Baldwin, 58, told NBC News.
Lost kilos
The two were not asked to exercise or go on a diet, but have already lost many kilos. And that while other treatments for the disorder – including gastric bypass – did not work. Baldwin: “Within a few days I noticed I was getting control. I wasn’t constantly thinking about food.”
Study leader Casey Halpern emphasizes that in these patients it is not that they cannot control themselves. “Because wrong signals are sent in the brain, they lose control.”
An associate professor of neurosurgery not involved in the trial, told NBC News. “The fact that this is possible is pretty amazing,” says Kai Miller. “These patients show improvements.”
More research
More patients will participate in the trial in the near future. And the first two patients will continue to be monitored by the researchers. It is not yet possible to say on the basis of this trial whether the treatment can be used more widely in the future. More research is needed for this.
The Deep Brain Stimulation method is being used more and more often, for example in people who suffer from Gilles de la Tourette, epilepsy or Parkinson’s disease.