Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is a technique that has been used for 20 years to alliviate tremors in some cases of Parkinson. More recently, neurosurgeons are exploring the possibility of using it in other conditions such as major depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, or even Alzheimer. This week, the journal 'The Lancet' opens a new possibility by publishing the results of a trial with six patients with chronic anorexia nervosa.
The results are signed by Dr. Andres Lozano, a Sevillian who has been living in Canada for years, where he heads the department of neurosurgery at the University of Toronto.
The study was conducted with six women who had an average of 18 years struggling unsuccessfully against the most severe anorexia, which does not respond to any treatment, posing a serious risk to their life in the short term.
By using a neurosurgery that has already been successfully applied in more than 100,000 patients with Parkinson worldwide, Lozano's team operated on women to implant electrodes inside the brain, connected to an external generator of electrical signals.
The area of the brain where the electrodes where placed is called subcallosal cingulate and it is the same area which is stimulated for treatment of severe cases of depression. In fact, the Spanish researcher explains that five women (aged between 24 and 57 years) have improved mood, reducing anxiety and depression levels. This resulted in three of them having a sustained weight gain just nine months after surgery.
This does not mean that the DBS increased patients' appetite. The electrodes simply improved internal negative aspects of patients, as the state of anxiety and mood, or removed that negativity that prevented girls from eating more and gaining weight. Anorexia is a very complex disease; it is not only that the person doesn't want to eat, but also the fact that they refuse to do so because there is a problem with their perception of reality. In any case, the results of this study open a door of hope for severe cases of anorexia, of which about 20% have a very high mortality risk.
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