Canadian scientists create ‘brain pacemaker’ to help anorexics

An implanted "brain pacemaker" may sound extreme, but Canadian scientists believe it might offer some severe anorexics who don't respond to other forms of treatment as a last chance at survival.

According to a new study published in The Lancet by researchers from Toronto's Krembil Neuroscience Centre, deep brain stimulation (DBS) have been shown to help treat severe cases of anorexia.

Deep brain stimulation has already been used to treat Parkinson's disease, epilepsy and depression.

The study followed six female patients who had failed to respond to other treatments for anorexia and were at high risk of dying.

"Scientists inserted electrodes deep within their brains which were programmed to deliver tiny electrical impulses to stimulate eating and lift mood," the Independent reports.

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Those electrodes were connected to a "pulse generator" or pacemaker which was inserted under the skin near the collarbone. The pacemaker was programmed to deliver regular pulses to an area of the brain called the corpus callosum, a thick bundle of nerve fibres that is used for deep brain stimulation in treatments for depression.

Within a few months, half the patients showed improvements in both weight and mood, a very encouraging sign for scientists.

"Deep brain stimulation in this group of six patients with chronic and treatment-refractory anorexia nervosa was generally safe," the study's authors conclude.

"Given the lack of advances in treating anorexia nervosa in the last 30 years, if these treatment results continue, it represents significant hope for that group of patients," researcher Dr. Blake Woodside, a psychiatrist at Toronto General Hospital who specializes in eating disorders, tells CTV News.

"The thing that we find quite exciting is that we were able to help them with their depressive symptoms, with their anxiety, with their obsessions. And this also translated into improvements in their quality of life," lead researcher and neurosurgeon Dr. Andres Lozano tells CTV News.

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One of the patients who saw success from the "brain pacemaker" was Kim Rollins, who, at one point, weighed just 70 pounds. She tried at least 10 treatment programs with little to no success.

Two weeks after being implanted with the pacemaker, she had a seizure. Doctors aren't sure if the seizure resulted from the stimulation or from her already dire physical condition. Still, Rollins believes the DBS saved her life.

She tells CTV News that her anxiety and compulsive behaviours decreased with the new treatment.

"I felt a real, almost lifting of the anxiety. I felt calmer," she says. "To me, it has really meant getting a life again. It has meant hope. It has meant almost being able to live a life that I thought was over."

She adds, "If it wasn't for the DBS and being part of the study, I don’t know if I would be here."

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Lozano insists DBS isn't just treating symptoms.

"We think that this is more than a bandage solution. We think we are getting to the root cause, the root disturbance in the brain by affecting their depression and by affecting their anxiety."

Professors Janet Treasure and Ulrike Schmidt of the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College wrote the following in a commentary on the study.

"The findings of this proof-of-concept study are promising and will give hope to patients with especially pernicious forms of the disorder and their families."

According to CBC News, anorexia affects 15,000 to 20,000 people in Canada, most of them young women. The mortality rate is between 6 and 11 per cent.

Only 60 to 70 per cent of anorexia sufferers ever fully recover.