AsianScientist (Jun. 20, 2011) – Researchers from the University of Western Sydney (UWS) will trial a new method of anorexia treatment that refocuses patients away from compulsive and excessive exercise.
Professor Phillipa Hay, from the UWS School of Medicine, says compulsive and excessive exercise is a key feature of anorexia which presents in a majority of patients.
“In addition to having distorted views of their body shape and weight and disturbances in their eating behaviour, many patients also experience a compulsion to push their body past its physical limits through exercise,” said Hay.
“Extreme exercise can be dangerous for anyone, but when coupled with the poor health and nutrition of anorexia patients it can lead to a tide of other medical problems and is often associated with higher levels of psychological distress, longer hospital stays, and relapses from treatment,” she added.
The new treatment is based on the ‘Loughborough Eating disorders Activity therapy,’ or ‘LEAP,’ a psychological treatment which aims to promote healthy attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors and equip patients with the knowledge and skills to regain control over their exercise. It was the brainchild of Ph.D. student Lorin Taranis and Dr. Caroline Meyer at the Loughborough University Center for Research into Eating Disorders (LUCRED) in the U.K., and is the only treatment of its kind designed to tackle compulsive exercising amongst eating disorder sufferers.
According to Hay, the relationship between extreme exercise and anorexia has not been thoroughly examined by researchers and current treatment programs are lacking in addressing its impact.
“Anorexia treatments traditionally aim to prevent further physical harm by restricting patients to low impact exercises, such as yoga or walking, or banning patients from exercising entirely,” she says.
“However, this approach does not address the patients’ underlying compulsions or addiction to exercise and does not consider that forcing them to stop exercising may have adverse psychological effects.”
LEAP, on the other hand, recognises anorexia patients’ overwhelming urges to exercise and it allows them to develop the capacity to do so in a healthier way.
Used in conjunction with a form of cognitive behavioral therapy, LEAP also aims to restore weight and normal eating habits by challenging underlying beliefs and thoughts through cognitive restructuring and behavior change.
The UWS study requires a hundred adult volunteers with anorexia nervosa to participate in thirty-four free treatment sessions. The treatment sessions will be held in convenient locations in Campbelltown, Westmead, or Camperdown.
The University of Western Sydney treatment trial is run in collaboration with researchers and health professionals from Sydney University, the U.K., and the U.S.
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Source: University of Western Sydney.
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