Scientists in London have developed an innovative new treatment for binge eating that can cut monthly binge episodes by 70 per cent.
The treatment, developed by researchers at King’s College London, combines a gentle brain stimulation technique with a training program that targets unhelpful patterns of attention around food.
Binge eating disorder is a serious mental illness that can affect anyone of any age, gender, ethnicity or background. It causes sufferers to consume lots of food in a short period of time until they are uncomfortably full.
Health experts have warned that a rise in rates of the disorder has contributed to the UK’s growing obesity crisis.
The brain stimulation technique, called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), gently stimulates carefully selected areas of the brain using electrodes placed on the scalp. It is administered using a device at home.
Alongside this, participants underwent a programme called attention bias modification training (ABMT) which aims to correct unhelpful biases towards food cues.
For the trial, researchers recruited 82 participants who were overweight or living with obesity and met the criteria for binge eating disorder diagnosis.
Patients were divided into four groups that received either 10 sessions of tDCS during ABMT, 10 sessions of a pretend tDCS with a headset that did not deliver electrical stimulation, 10 sessions of ABMT only or no treatment.
Those who received tDCS with ABMT saw the number of monthly binge eating episodes fall by 70 per cent, while also losing 3.5-4kg in body weight.
Ulrike Schmidt OBE, Professor of Eating Disorders at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s, said: “The treatment we tested is home-delivered, which allows it to reach people who may find it difficult to come into the community. For some time, eating disorder services have not been funded to work with or treat people with binge eating disorder. Importantly, the treatment described here is straightforward to deliver, making it potentially highly scalable in the NHS.”
Dr. Michaela Flynn, Research Associate at King’s IoPPN, and first author on the study, said: “Current treatments for binge eating disorder are only effective for some people, and many need further or different support to get well. Our study is the first to look at a new option for home-based treatment that offers a different approach to treating binge eating disorder. TDCS targets the brain-driven patterns of behavior that might be contributing to the loss of control around food, enabling people to shift entrenched thinking and behavior around food.
“Participants commented that their mood felt lighter, which may be a key part of why they reported changes in eating behavior and weight loss that lasted for some time after treatment ended. Our findings are encouraging, and we want to explore this on a larger scale with more participants.”
