- ALLERGY, RESPIRATORY
- Herbal Remedy Could Halt Peanut Allergy
- Overweight Moms More Likely to Have Asthmatic Kids
- Obesity May Raise Kids' Allergy Risk
- ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
- New Insights Show Ginseng Fights Inflammation
- Higher Vitamin D Intake Could Cut Cancer Risk
- Memory Loss Help from Brain Supplement Prevagen
- ANIMAL CARE
- 'Comfort Dogs' Come to Emotional Rescue
- Beware of Dog Bites
- Separation Anxiety, Canine-Style
- BONES & JOINTS
- Chronic Low Back Pain Is on the Rise
- Brazilian Mint Tea Naturally Good for Pain Relief
- Many Americans Fall Short on Their Vitamin D
- CANCER
- Omega-3 May Safely Treat Precancerous Bowel Polyps
- Lifting Weights Can Ease Arm Swelling in Breast Cancer Survivors
- Study Suggests Link Between Cell Phones and Brain Tumors
- CAREGIVING
- Caring for Aging Loved Ones Can Be a Catch-22
- Omega-3 Fatty Acid May Help 'Preemie' Girls' Brains
- With Alzheimer's, Health-Care Costs Could Triple
- CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
- Laughter Can Boost Heart Health
- Migraines in Pregnancy Boost Vascular Risks
- A Brisk Pace May Keep Stroke at Bay
- COSMETIC
- Get Sugared!.... Its a sweet choice for hair removal
- Science May Banish Bad Hair Days
- With Psoriasis, the Internet May Offer Hope
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- Rheumatoid Arthritis May Harm Gums
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- Doctors Urged to Screen Diabetics for Sleep Apnea
- Fructose-Sweetened Drinks Up Metabolic Syndrome Risk
- Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes Updated
- DIET, NUTRITION
- Coffee Drinkers Might Live Longer
- Is Coffee Good or Bad for Your Health?
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- Could Your Cell Phone Help Shield You From Alzheimer's?
- Review Finds Marijuana May Help MS Patients
- ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
- Greener Neighborhoods Mean Slimmer Children
- Hurricane Threats: Time to Batten Down the Hatches
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- EYE CARE, VISION
- Half of U.S. Adults Lack 20/20 Vision
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- Green Tea May Ward Off Eye Disease
- FITNESS
- Any Exercise Good After a Heart Attack
- Antioxidants Blunt Exercise Benefit, Study Shows
- Exercise Guards White Blood Cells Against Aging
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- Gum Chewing May Speed Colon Surgery Recovery
- GENERAL HEALTH
- Swine Flu Is Now a Pandemic Says W.H.O.
- The Yearly Flu Shot Debate
- Dry Weather Boosts Odds of Flu Outbreaks
- HEAD & NECK
- Many Children Will Outgrow Headaches
- Zen May Thicken Brain, Thwart Pain
- Ski Helmets Encouraged for All
- HEALTH & TECHNOLOGY
- 'Comfort Dogs' Come to Emotional Rescue
- Imaging Sheds Light on How Acupuncture Works
- Study Suggests Link Between Cell Phones and Brain Tumors
- HEART & CARDIOVASCULAR
- Laughter Can Boost Heart Health
- Brown Rice Tied to Better Heart Health in Study
- Obese People Seem to Do Better With Heart Disease
- INFECTIOUS DISEASE
- Swine Flu Closes Three Schools in NYC
- Swine Flu Loves a Crowd
- Poor Restroom Cleaning Causes Cruise-Ship Sickness
- KID'S HEALTH
- Boosting Kids' Stroke IQ May Save Lives
- Stomach Germ May Protect Against Asthma
- Should Your Child Be Seeing a Chiropractor?
- MEN'S HEALTH
- Eating Fast Until Full Triples Overweight Risk
- Varicose Veins May Mask Larger Problem
- More Vitamin C May Mean Less Chance of Gout
- MENTAL HEALTH
- Worries About Weight Are Tied to Teen Suicide Tries
- Eight Spiritual Universal Principles in the Art of Practice
- Music Soothes Anxiety as Well as Massage Does
- PAIN
- Tai Chi May Help Ease Fibromyalgia
- 'Cell Phone Elbow' -- A New Ill for the Wired Age
- Acupuncture, Real or Fake, Eases Back Pain
- PREGNANCY
- Prenatal Stress May Boost Baby's Asthma Risk
- Acupuncture May Ease Depression During Pregnancy
- Obesity May Affect Fertility in Young Womene
- SENIORS
- Fitness Fades Fast After 45
- Seniors Cope With Sleep Loss Better Than Young Adults
- 15-Point Test Gauges Alzheimer's Risk
Successful Weight Loss Shows Unique Brain Patterns
By eHolistic.com Published: 09/23/2009
(HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that people who have successfully lost weight will activate certain parts of their brains when confronted with images of food.
While preliminary, the findings indicate that those who shed pounds -- and keep them off -- tap into regions of the brain related to control over urges.
"It may be that they actually recruit new brain regions to help with their weight loss," said study author Jeanne McCaffery, an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown Medical School, in Providence, R.I.
McCaffery and her colleagues wanted to understand how people react to "food cues" -- in this case, photos of food. "People make decisions about whether or not they're going to eat food, and that decision-making usually comes when they first smell or see the food," she said.
The researchers recruited several groups of participants: 18 people of normal weight, 16 fat people and 17 people who had successfully shed weight -- at least 30 pounds from their maximum weight -- and kept it off for at least three years.
The participants underwent brain scans as they looked at pictures of high-calorie and low-calorie foods. The MRI scans revealed that those who had successfully lost weight showed more activity in the parts of the brain that are associated with inhibition and in dealing with complex tasks, McCaffery said.
Those of normal weight didn't show this pattern. This may be because "they've been of normal weight all of their lifetime. The successful weight losers have to put in more effort to avoid eating foods or to control their response to food."
The findings appear in the October issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Ian McDonald, a professor of metabolic physiology who wrote a commentary accompanying the study, said questions remain.
For one, did the people who lost weight begin to have this brain response when they started shedding pounds or later? "Similarly, are the obese different from the non-obese because of an intrinsic difference or as a result of the inappropriate eating which has led to their obesity?" asked McDonald, a researcher at the University of Nottingham Medical School in England.
In other words, does inappropriate eating by heavy people lead to differences in the way their brains work when they look at food?
Also, McDonald said, future research needs to figure out what the differences in brain activity mean for the choices people make. "Similar measurements need to be made before, during and after weight loss," he noted.
For now, McCaffery said the researchers would like to understand better how the brain works in people who have lost weight successfully.
In the future, she said, it's possible that "we'll be able to teach other people how to do that."
SOURCES: Jeanne McCaffery, Ph.D., assistant professor, psychiatry and human behavior, Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center, Brown Medical School and The Miriam Hospital, Providence, R.I.; Ian McDonald, researcher, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Nottingham Medical School, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, United Kingdom; October 2009, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
