Premium
An auto‐addiction opioid model of chronic anorexia nervosa
Author(s) -
Marrazzi Mary Ann,
Luby Elliot D.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/1098-108x(198602)5:2<191::aid-eat2260050202>3.0.co;2-i
Subject(s) - addiction , psychology , anorexia nervosa , psychotherapist , opiate , dieting , addictive behavior , psychiatry , opioid , neuroscience , medicine , eating disorders , endocrinology , receptor , weight loss , obesity
The phenomenology of chronic anorexia nervosa is compared with that of addictive states. A model is proposed in which brain opioids mediate the elation, neuroendocrine changes, and down‐regulation of metabolism that occur in adaptation to dieting. The physiology of opioids is reviewed, and clinical and animal data are marshalled to support an auto‐addictive model. Opiate blockade together with therapeutic approaches used in the addictions may prove helpful in this stubborn disorder.