91制片厂

Dr. Michael Lowe's team has published a flurry of studies showing the effect of a person's change from their own past highest weight, or weight suppression, on eating disorders.

Dieters and weight loss researchers are familiar with the principle: The more weight you鈥檝e lost, the harder it is to keep it off. A complex and vicious cycle of biological and behavioral factors make it so.

But eating disorder research has largely overlooked this influence, and , a professor of psychology at 91制片厂, has published a flurry of research studies showing that needs to change.

鈥淭he focus of eating disorder research has very much been on the state of patients鈥� thoughts, beliefs, emotions and personalities,鈥� Lowe said. 鈥淎nd while these mental influences are undoubtedly part of the problem, historically there has been very little focus on how their current and past body weights contribute to their eating disorder.鈥�

Lowe and colleagues鈥� studies 鈥� about a dozen on bulimia nervosa have been published in the past several years 鈥� show that having an elevated past body weight, and being at a body weight well below highest past weight, may help cause and perpetuate disordered eating. The latest of Lowe鈥檚 studies was just published in The Journal of Abnormal Psychology, the top journal for eating disorder research, and is the team鈥檚 first to address this principle in anorexia nervosa.

The findings, Lowe says, show that researchers and clinicians need to start taking into account how a person鈥檚 historical and current body weight contribute to disordered eating.

鈥淭his fundamentally changes the assumption that the problem is primarily psychological or emotional,鈥� Lowe said.

The new study, led by doctoral student Laura A. Berner, was based on data collected at the Renfrew Center for eating disorders in Philadelphia, where Lowe is also a consultant. The researchers found that the level of eating disorder symptoms, as well as degree of improvement during treatment, depends on how much weight anorexic patients had lost from their previous highest weight (a measure called 鈥渨eight suppression鈥�), how much they currently weigh and the interaction between the two. 

After controlling for patients鈥� body mass index (BMI, which is a known indicator of disease severity), they found that patients with greater weight suppression had more severe symptoms of anorexia than patients whose low weight was closer to their historical highest weight. Standard measures of disordered eating such as shape concerns, eating concerns, binge eating, depression and menstrual abnormalities were correlated with weight suppression, current BMI, or both.

Lowe said that researchers and clinicians who already use weight or BMI as an absolute measure of eating disorder severity should also consider weight suppression as a relative measure.

Lowe said that researchers and clinicians who already use weight or BMI as an absolute measure of eating disorder severity should also consider weight suppression as a relative measure.

These findings also may have important implications for treatment. 

鈥淭he standards for treating anorexia nervosa are all about 鈥榟ow much weight do they need to gain to meet a minimally healthy body weight for their height,鈥欌�� Lowe said. 鈥淲hat we鈥檝e rarely asked, is 鈥榳hat did this patient weigh before she developed anorexia?鈥欌��

Lowe said his ongoing research suggests that the answer is that many anorexic patients weighed more than their peers before developing anorexia.

鈥淚f the patient鈥檚 body somehow 鈥榬emembers鈥� that past higher weight, then even at the minimally healthy body weight she is still going to be struggling mightily to maintain her weight,鈥� Lowe said. 鈥淭hat perspective is new. It suggests that future treatments might work toward finding a healthier 鈥榖alance point鈥� between what patients once weighed and what they currently weigh.鈥�

"It is really helpful to have more than one way to look at weight in the eating disorders; we now have evidence that absolute weight and relative weight are both important in predicting difficulties in our work towards full recovery,鈥� said Dr. Susan Ice, vice president and chief medical officer of The Renfrew Center. 鈥淎nd it is immensely satisfying to find that science has discovered that there is physical memory or a kind of 'wisdom' in the body."

Lowe and his research team were recently funded by the National Institute of Mental Health to further investigate the role of these weight-related variables on bulimia nervosa. Individuals with symptoms of bulimia who are interested in participating in this federally funded study may call 215-553-7171 or email TEDS@drexel.edu for additional information.

Another research laboratory at Drexel, the Laboratory for Innovations in Health-Related Behavior Change, is recruiting participants who have experienced binge eating problems but do not engage in compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting or laxative use. One project is investigating a new smartphone app for binge eating and the other is evaluating an in-person treatment. Individuals who are interested in participating in these research studies may call 215-553-7100.