USC experts discover brain differences in young children with binge eating disorder

Brain scans of children ages 9-10 with a type of eating disorder that causes uncontrollable overeating showed differences in gray matter density compared to their unaffected peers, according to a USC-led study.

Binge eating disorder, which affects about 3-5% of the U.S. population, is characterized by frequent episodes of eating large amounts of food and a sense of having no control over the behavior. The study’s findings suggest that abnormal development in the brain’s centers for reward and inhibition may play a role.

“In children with binge eating disorder, we see abnormality in brain development in brain regions specifically linked to reward and impulsivity, or the ability to inhibit reward,” said lead author Stuart Murray, Della Martin Associate Professor of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, where he serves as director of the Eating Disorders Program.

“These kids have a very, very heightened reward sensitivity, especially toward calorically dense, high-sugar foods. The findings underscore the fact that this is not a lack of discipline for these kids.”

Pandemic saw increase in eating disorders among young people.
Experts say eating disorders in young people soared during the pandemic, along with steep increases in hospitalizations. Social isolation, stress, disruption of routine and a social media-fueled quest for perfection all exacerbated disorders such as anorexia, muscle dysmorphia and binge eating.

Binge eating disorder puts people at risk for obesity, metabolic syndrome, abnormal cardiac function and suicidal thoughts. Treatment goals include reducing the frequency of binge eating episodes by removing “trigger” foods, as well as addressing underlying anxiety or depression. Treatment with medication and talk therapy is effective about only half the time, Murray said.

For this study, Murray and his colleagues analyzed brain scans and other data from 71 children with diagnosed binge eating disorder and 74 children without binge eating disorder, who are part of a large longitudinal study called the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study. That study includes data of 11,875 children ages 9-10 who were enrolled in 2016-2018 and recruited from 21 sites around the U.S.

In the children with binge eating disorder, they saw elevations in gray matter density in areas that are typically “pruned” during healthy brain development. Synaptic pruning, a development phase that occurs between ages 2 and 10, eliminates synapses that are no longer used, making the brain more efficient. Disturbed synaptic pruning is linked to a number of psychiatric disorders.

“This study suggests to me that binge eating disorder is wired in the brain, even from a very, very early age,” Murray said. “The question that we don’t know, which is something that we will address in time, is whether successful treatment of binge eating disorder in kids helps correct brain development. The prognosis of almost all psychiatric diseases is better if you can treat them in childhood.”
 

 

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement

 

Early signs of type 2 diabetes can be seen in kids

Researchers have found that early signs of adulthood type 2 diabetes can be seen in children as young as 8 years old.

Type 2 diabetes is most often diagnosed in middle age or later, with its symptoms slowly developing over many years.
 
“It’s remarkable that we can see signs of adult diabetes in the blood from such a young age, this is about 50 years before it’s commonly diagnosed.

“This is not a clinical study; nearly all participants were free of diabetes and most will not go on to develop it. This is about liability to disease and how genetics can tell us something about how the disease develops,” said the researcher.

The research was conducted among young healthy people who were generally free of type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases to see how early in life the effects of diabetes susceptibility become visible.

The study tracked over 4,000 participants of the Children of the 90s study, a birth cohort established in Bristol in the early 1990s.

The researchers combined genetics with an approach called ‘metabolomics’, which involves measuring many small molecules in a blood sample to try and identify patterns that are unique to type 2 diabetes.

According to the findings, the research team analysed 162 pieces of genetic information and combined this with 200 measures of many small molecules in a blood sample, known as metabolics, to identify signs of type 2 diabetes.

Data was taken once in childhood — at 8 years old, twice in adolescence aged 16 and 18 years and once in young adulthood aged 25 years.

They found levels of HDL cholesterol were reduced at age 8, while inflammatory glycoprotein acetyls and amino acids were elevated in 16 and 18 year old teenagers.

These metabolic features could be targeted to prevent young people from going on to develop type 2 diabetes in the future, the researchers said.

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   
https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations 
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement       

AI can detect depression in child's speech

Scientists have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system that can detect signs of anxiety and depression in the speech patterns of young children.

According to the research, the tool potentially provides a fast and easy way of diagnosing conditions that are difficult to spot and often overlooked in young people.

Around one in five children suffer from anxiety and depression, collectively known as "internalising disorders."

However, since children under the age of eight can not reliably articulate their emotional suffering, adults need to be able to infer their mental state, and recognise potential mental health problems.

Waiting lists for appointments with psychologists, insurance issues, and failure to recognise the symptoms by parents all contribute to children missing out on vital treatment.

"We need quick, objective tests to catch kids when they are suffering," said a clinical psychologist.

"The majority of kids under eight are undiagnosed," said the lead author of the study.

Early diagnosis is critical because children respond well to treatment while their brains are still developing, but if they are left untreated they are at greater risk of substance abuse and suicide later in life.

Standard diagnosis involves a 60-90 minute semi-structured interview with a trained clinician and their primary care-giver.

Researchers have been looking for ways to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to make diagnosis faster and more reliable.

They used an adapted version of a mood induction task called the Trier-Social Stress Task, which is intended to cause feelings of stress and anxiety in the subject.

A group of 71 children between the ages of three and eight were asked to improvise a three-minute story, and told that they would be judged based on how interesting it was.

The researcher acting as the judge remained stern throughout the speech, and gave only neutral or negative feedback.

After 90 seconds, and again with 30 seconds left, a buzzer would sound and the judge would tell them how much time was left.

"The task is designed to be stressful, and to put them in the mindset that someone was judging them," said the researcher.

The children were also diagnosed using a structured clinical interview and parent questionnaire, both well-established ways of identifying internalising disorders in children.

The researchers used a machine learning algorithm to analyse statistical features of the audio recordings of each kid's story and relate them to the child's diagnosis.

They found the algorithm was highly successful at diagnosing children, and that the middle phase of the recordings, between the two buzzers, was the most predictive of a diagnosis.

The algorithm was able to identify children with a diagnosis of an internalising disorder with 80 per cent accuracy, and in most cases that compared really well to the accuracy of the parent checklist, researchers said.

It can also give the results much more quickly -- the algorithm requires just a few seconds of processing time once the task is complete to provide a diagnosis.

The author said that the next step will be to develop the speech analysis algorithm into a universal screening tool for clinical use, perhaps via a smartphone app that could record and analyse results immediately.

The voice analysis could also be combined with the motion analysis into a battery of technology-assisted diagnostic tools, to help identify children at risk of anxiety and depression before even their parents suspect that anything is wrong.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/    

                                                                                                                                                     FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                  https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/  

         

                   FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                                  https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com

Be Careful of These 8 Home Items Around the Kids

While raising children can be one of the most joyous times in our lives, we have a primal urge to keep them safe and happy. However, there are a number of products that have been proven to increase the incidence of childhood injuries, and in some more dangerous cases, fatalities. So, in order to help raise awareness and keep our children safe, here's a list of products that require an increased level of caution. 

 

1. Laundry detergent pods

If swallowed, laundry pods can cause poisoning and burns to the mouth, throat, and stomach. Other than ingestion, if the liquid leaks or is squeezed from the pod, it can cause severe skin and eye irritation and burns. It can also damage the lungs if your child breathes it in. If you suspect that your child has ingested or had some form of contact with an open detergent pod, call a doctor immediately. 

2. Balloons and other small objects

Balloons are a great way to brighten up a party. But, they cause more childhood deaths than any other toy. Balloons, especially those made of latex, conform to the shape of the narrow windpipe in children. This leads to choking. Other small objects like batteries, magnets, marbles and bottle caps can also lead to occlusions of the windpipe. If you notice your child choking, give them several firm blows to the upper back while they are in a forward position. Be sure to call an ambulance. 

3. Pet food

Pet food, though not poisonous to humans can cause children to become sick after ingesting dry cat or dog food. The most dangerous is dry food pellets, usually given to large dogs. This can result in a choking hazard for kids. 
 
4. Toys with propellers
Small, hand-operated drones cause an increased risk of injury. In one situation, a child had his eye cut out by a drone propellor. While they can indeed be fun toys to play with, do follow the safety precautions. 

5. Trampolines

While trampolines can be a fun addition to the backyard, they do come with a number of risks. According to the EU Injury Database, approximately 51,000 children aged 0-14 require an emergency department visit every year due to injuries sustained from using a trampoline. In the United States, that number is closer to 250,000.

6. Toy Chests
If you keep your child's toys in a chest with a heavy lid, it's probably best to remove the lid or to use open storage boxes. Heavy lids pose an injury risk if the toddler were to have a body part reaching into the open lid and it wasn't secured. Reported incidents have also noted cases of suffocation when a child has become trapped within the box. Most modern toy chests have added safety elements to help prevent injury. Alternatively, open boxes and play areas can be a safer alternative. 

7. Certain houseplants

While houseplants can be aesthetically pleasing for your home and garden, some can be quite toxic and lethal if eaten. Philodendron, oleander, and peace lilies are three common examples. Should an incident occur, call an ambulance. 

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                                             FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                                                             https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                                                                                       FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com

8. Candy 
Candy can be a real choking hazard, depending on the age of the child. Be especially aware of sour hard candies, like Warheads, which have been reported to have caused burns and erosion to children's mouths. So either proceed with caution or avoid them altogether.