The cerebral cortex is affected by anorexia nervosa. There is a thinning of gray matter in patients. A reversible phenomenon since a therapy makes it possible to reverse the trend.
Anorexics suffer a loss of gray matter comparable to that of Alzheimer’s patients. This is what reveals a study published in the journal Biological Psychiatry. A team from the Dresden Faculty of Medicine (Germany) analyzed the impact of this eating disorder on the brain structure of 40 sick patients and 40 healthy people. They conclude, without question, to a thinning of the gray matter in the cortex.
The German researchers, led by Prof. Stefan Ehrlich, performed MRI scans of the participants in this study before the therapy and after its success. To talk about total rehabilitation, the team waited for the patients to reach a normal and stable weight, resume correct eating habits and have regular periods. More than 100,000 different areas of the brain were observed in the images obtained.
Malnutrition is the cause
At least 85% of the cortical surface of patients is thinned in patients with anorexia, this study reveals. “The extent of the affected area and the extent of the thinning of gray matter is remarkable – comparable to what is observed in Alzheimer’s disease,” analyzes Prof. Ehrlich.
Other studies have suggested that anorexia is associated with changes in brain structure. But so far, researchers have failed to precisely locate these upheavals. “The anomalies of the cerebral structure in anorexia nervosa (…) are first and foremost the consequence of malnutrition”, explains the authors of the study. “They are unlikely to reflect pre-morbid markers (preceding disease, editor’s note) or permanent scars. “
These anomalies are deep, but not irreversible: “We observed a complete normalization of the thickness of the cortical gray matter in patients rehabilitated over the long term”, emphasizes Stefan Ehrlich. “These are particularly encouraging results for people with this disorder. The therapy therefore improves the impact of anorexia nervosa on the brain, but malnutrition has irreversible effects on the body. In particular, it causes a sharp drop in bone mass, which puts patients at risk of osteoporosis.
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