Posted by Racer on August 26, 2000, at 15:57:36
In reply to cortisol eating disorders?, posted by clarrissa forester on August 22, 2000, at 13:37:48
I don't know anything for sure, but I can tell you some old news and some similar things:
When in college, back when the earth was new, I did a project on anorexia. At that time, the newest thing was that anorexia seemed to be correlated to an increase in synaptic activity in the hypothalamus using dopamine as a neurotransmitter. This is more like what happens in amphetamine abuse than what happens in starvation.
Also, my horse has Cushings Syndrome, which leads to an increase in cortisol production. She has always been a slow and fussy eater, but now she's both slower and more demanding. She also has a lot of trouble holding her weight now, which was never a problem before. Her personality is changed, but she's mostly being OK now. If anything, she may even be easier to get along with now, though it's hard to tell why. (Maybe it's because she's finally exhausted all the alternative? Maybe she's come to trust me to shield her from danger -- finally! Maybe she doesn't have the strength to overreact anymore. Maybe she's afraid I'll leave her to her own devices if she keeps behaving like an idiot. Maybe she's too blind to react? Who knows. All I can tell you is that she's less apt to turn herself inside out over the slightest thing.)
The cortisol has been a mixed blessing, though, since it's relieved her arthritis. It's also got her drinking more, putting more pressure on the kidneys.
As for eating disorders per se, I'd say that hormones and neurotransmitters have to be involved somehow. My experience was that I got a kind of a high, and a distinct relief from depression while I was actively anorectic. I couldn't think very strenuously, but at least I wasn't crying all the time.
So, no answer, but a lot of babbling... Hope you got something out of it!
poster:Racer
thread:43516
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000822/msgs/43791.html