- ALLERGY, RESPIRATORY
- Obesity May Raise Kids' Allergy Risk
- Using Music and Sports to Improve Kids' Asthma
- Keep Asthma, Allergies at Bay for the Holidays
- ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
- Placebo Acupuncture Tied to Higher IVF Pregnancies
- Acupuncture May Trigger Natural Painkiller
- Traditional Chinese Therapy May Help Ease Eczema
- ANIMAL CARE
- Beware of Dog Bites
- Animals Respond to Acupuncture's Healing Touch
- Rest Easy. When It Comes to Swine Flu, Your Pet Is Safe
- BONES & JOINTS
- Scientists Discover How Osteoarthritis Destroys Cartilage
- Improved Hip Implants Can Last 20 Years
- New Clues to How Fish Oils Help Arthritis Patients
- CANCER
- Researchers ID Genetic Markers for Esophageal Cancer
- Drinking Green Tea May Slow Prostate Cancer
- Meditation May Reduce Stress in Breast Cancer Patients
- CAREGIVING
- New Guidelines for Treating Heart Failure
- Are Hospital Mobile Phones Dialing Up Superbugs?
- Depression, PTSD Common Among Lung Transplant Patient Caregivers
- CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
- High Blood Fat Levels Common in Americans
- Years of Exposure to Traffic Pollution Raises Blood Pressure
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- With Psoriasis, the Internet May Offer Hope
- What to Do If You Have Unsightly Veins
- Study Evaluates Laser Therapies for Hair Removal
- DENTAL, ORAL
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- A Sweet Way to Shield Baby's Teeth
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- Poor Blood Sugar Control After Heart Surgery Impacts Outcomes
- Patients' Photos Help Boost Radiologists' Accuracy
- Americans Consuming More Sugary Beverages
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- Proven Strategies for Avoiding Colds and the Flu
- An Apple a Day May Help Keep Heart Disease Away
- Polyunsaturated Fats Really May Lower Heart Risk
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- Could Your Cell Phone Help Shield You From Alzheimer's?
- Review Finds Marijuana May Help MS Patients
- ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
- Household Chemicals May Affect Cholesterol Levels
- Arsenic in Drinking Water Raises Diabetes Risk
- Common Pesticide Tied to Development Delays in Kids
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- Half of U.S. Adults Lack 20/20 Vision
- Eye Care Checkups Tied to Insurance Status
- Unconscious Learning: In the Eye of the Beholder?
- FITNESS
- Being Active an Hour a Day Puts Brakes on Weight Gain
- Super Bowl Loss Can 'Kill' Some Fans
- Occupational Therapy Plus Exercise Benefits Osteoarthritis
- GASTROINTESTINAL PROBLEMS
- Peppermint Oil, Fiber Can Fight Irritable Bowel
- Bowel Prep Harder on Women Than Men
- Soothing Imagery May Help Rid Some Kids of Stomach Pain
- GENERAL HEALTH
- 8 Drugs Doctors Would Never Take
- A Little Alcohol May Stave Off Alzheimer's
- Swine Flu Now Reported in All 50 States
- HEAD & NECK
- Ski Helmets Encouraged for All
- Many Children Will Outgrow Headaches
- Zen May Thicken Brain, Thwart Pain
- HEALTH & TECHNOLOGY
- Using Light Therapy to Silence Harmful Brain Activity
- Subway Defibrillators Save Lives
- Imaging Sheds Light on How Acupuncture Works
- HEART & CARDIOVASCULAR
- Arteries Age Twice as Fast in Smokers
- Too-Low Blood Pressure Can Also Bring Danger
- Vigorous Exercise Cuts Stroke Risk for Men, Not Women
- INFECTIOUS DISEASE
- Swine Flu Closes Three Schools in NYC
- Grapefruit Compound Inhibits Hepatitis C Virus
- Surgical Masks Could Prevent Flu, Maybe
- KID'S HEALTH
- Teens Lose More Weight Using Healthy Strategies
- Mom and Baby Alike May Benefit From Exercise
- Family Medicine Cabinet Top Source Of Kid's Poisonings
- MEN'S HEALTH
- Countdown to Hair Loss
- Vigorous Exercise Cuts Stroke Risk for Men, Not Women
- Exercise May Prevent Prostate Cancer: Study Shows
- MENTAL HEALTH
- Musicians' Brains Tuned to Emotions in Sound
- Most Depressed Teens Don't Get Treatment
- The 3LS Wellness Program for Reversing Chronic Symptoms and Creating Lasting Health
- PAIN
- Tai Chi May Help Ease Fibromyalgia
- Acupuncture, Real or Fake, Eases Back Pain
- Are We Exercising Pain Away? Not So Much.
- PREGNANCY
- Sleeping Could Help Women Lose The Baby Fat
- Expectant Mom's Exercise Keeps Newborn's Birth Weight Down
- Before Conceiving, Take Folic Acid for One Full Year
- SENIORS
- Mediterranean Diet Plus Exercise Lowers Alzheimer's Risk
- Tai Chi and Qigong Offer Many Health Benefits: Review
- Exercise Benefits Even the Oldest Old
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.
