Rare Eating Disorder Connected to Obesity
- 10 years ago
A rare eating disorder called Prader-Willi Syndrome, or PWS causes people to have uncontrollable hunger, which forces them to eat anything and everything.
A rare eating disorder called Prader-Willi Syndrome, or PWS causes people to have uncontrollable hunger, which forces them to eat anything and everything.
It is reportedly the number one genetic cause of childhood obesity.
There are treatments being tested, and experts hope that research into PWS can help them understand some aspects of appetite and obesity, which is having a significantly negative effect on health in the US.
According to statistics from the PWS Association, there are around 8 thousand Americans who have the condition, which is caused by a dysfunctional hypothalamus.
People with PWS often have an irregular chromosome 15, suffer from mental handicaps, or display autistic behavior, and many have slow metabolisms, which when combined with overeating causes weight gain.
There is no cure for PWS, but one promising drug treatment being tested for effectiveness against obesity and PWS is called beloranib, designed to regulate metabolism and appetite.
The drug company Zafgen, conducted a study of beloranib on 17 patients in a residential care facility for PWS sufferers.
Zafgen reported that “most patients showed improvements in body weight, hunger-related behaviors, and body fat content”.
A rare eating disorder called Prader-Willi Syndrome, or PWS causes people to have uncontrollable hunger, which forces them to eat anything and everything.
It is reportedly the number one genetic cause of childhood obesity.
There are treatments being tested, and experts hope that research into PWS can help them understand some aspects of appetite and obesity, which is having a significantly negative effect on health in the US.
According to statistics from the PWS Association, there are around 8 thousand Americans who have the condition, which is caused by a dysfunctional hypothalamus.
People with PWS often have an irregular chromosome 15, suffer from mental handicaps, or display autistic behavior, and many have slow metabolisms, which when combined with overeating causes weight gain.
There is no cure for PWS, but one promising drug treatment being tested for effectiveness against obesity and PWS is called beloranib, designed to regulate metabolism and appetite.
The drug company Zafgen, conducted a study of beloranib on 17 patients in a residential care facility for PWS sufferers.
Zafgen reported that “most patients showed improvements in body weight, hunger-related behaviors, and body fat content”.