Monday, April 30, 2012

Binge Eating May Be Linked to Substance Abuse

A history of binge eating a large amount of fatty food may be linked to the development of substance abuse, Penn State College of Medicine researchers reported April 24 online in Behavioral Neuroscience. The researchers found an association between bingeing on fat and the development of cocaine-seeking and of cocaine-taking behaviors in rats. Binge-eating disorder may also be added to DSM-5. "In the 20 years since publication of DSM-IV, there have  been more than 1,000 papers published on binge-eating disorder," Timothy Walsh, M.D., chair of the Feeding and Eating Disorders Work Group for DSM-5, told Psychiatric News. For more information on this subject, see Psychiatric News.

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