Title: BULIMIA NERVOSA
Birdbomb - March 12, 2005 07:12 PM (GMT)
LINKU OF M REPORTS INITIAL SUCCESS FOR TREATMENT OF BULIMIA NERVOSA
Vagus Nerve Stimulation Therapy shows promise for patients
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (March 3, 2005) -- University of Minnesota researchers in the Department of Psychiatry today announced positive initial results in their study of Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) Therapy for patients with bulimia nervosa. These initial findings were reported this week, which is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
While VNS Therapy is commonly used in treating epilepsy, this is the first study investigating VNS Therapy for bulimia. The University’s Neuroscience Research Group received nearly $300,000 from the National Institutes of Health to fund the two-year study.
VNS Therapy aims to reverse the physiological changes that have occurred in the function of the vagus nerve from repeated binge eating and vomiting. The vagus nerve is the main “information highway” from the stomach to the brain. By controlling this nerve’s activity through electrical stimulation, doctors hope to reduce the frequency of vomiting in patients with bulimia.
“We are seeing promising results with this study to date. Of the six patients who have received VNS Therapy in the study, all have experienced dramatic results,” said Patricia Faris, Ph.D., associate professor in the department of psychiatry and principal investigator of the VNS therapy trial.
“What’s most impressive about these early results is that the women taking part in this study had severe bulimia for many years; none responded to traditional treatments. Currently, there is no effective treatment for these women,” Faris said. “If our results hold up in a larger study, this will be the first real hope for severely ill individuals to have a complete remission of symptoms.”
VNS Therapy is an FDA-approved treatment for pharmaco-resistant epilepsy and is expected to dampen activity in the vagus nerve. A pacemaker-like pulse generator is implanted directly below the skin of a patient’s chest to deliver mild, regularly timed pulses to the brain via the vagus nerve in the neck. Using an external programming system, doctors can adjust the timing and amount of stimulation the patient receives.
“VNS Therapy has been used to treat more than 30,000 patients with pharmaco-resistant epilepsy and has proven to be safe and effective with that patient population. We are hopeful that patients with other chronic conditions, such as bulimia, can realize similar benefit,” said Richard L. Rudolph M.D., chief medical officer and vice president, clinical and medical affairs, of Cyberonics, the company that manufactures the device. “We are encouraged by the positive initial results and the academic research being conducted at the University of Minnesota.”
A previous study conducted by the University published in The Lancet in March 2000 indicated that voluntary binge eating and vomiting early on in bulimia progressively stimulates the vagus nerve at higher intensities. Eventually, the vagus nerve spontaneously fires at this higher intensity in cycles corresponding to the bulimic behaviors. In this study, Zofran, a drug clinically used to modulate vagal activity, was found to be successful in dramatically reducing bulimic symptoms.
The goal of this research is to reverse the physiological changes that have occurred in patients with bulimia in an effort to avoid future relapse. VNS Therapy appears to provide a pacemaker-like effect which eliminates the extreme oscillations of activity in the nerve that drives these behaviors, thereby allowing the individual to regain control over disordered eating.
For more information on participating in this study or other eating disorder studies, call 612.626.4034 or e-mail eating@umn.edu