Determining the Response to Sipping Beverages Without Swallowing in People With Eating Disorders
Condition: Eating Disorders
MeSH terms: Feeding and Eating Disorders
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      This study will use a sipping and spitting exercise to better understand the brain's response
      to food intake in people with eating disorders.
    

Detailed description: 
      Eating behavior is controlled by many factors, including appetite; food availability; family,
      peer, and cultural practices; and attempts at voluntary control. Eating disorders are
      characterized by a voluntary control of eating behavior, causing serious disturbances in
      normal eating habits. People with eating disorders demonstrate an extreme and unhealthy
      reduction or increase in food intake, as well as feelings of distress or extreme concern
      about body shape or weight. The three most common types of eating disorders are anorexia
      nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. People with anorexia nervosa have an
      intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat. They are usually underweight, and resist
      maintaining a body weight at or above the minimum normal weight for their age and height.
      People with bulimia nervosa are less frequently underweight. Their eating habits are
      characterized by episodes of bingeing, followed by episodes of purging. Similarly, people
      with binge eating disorder have eating habits characterized by episodes of binge eating, but
      no purging. Studies on the basic biology of appetite control and the effects of overeating
      and starvation have revealed extensive information about eating disorders, but there are
      still questions to be answered. This study will use a sipping and spitting exercise to better
      understand the brain's response to food intake in people with eating disorders.

      Participants in this observational study will first report to the Biological Studies Unit
      (BSU) for a screening visit. Participants will be provided with a series of sweetened
      beverages to taste and spit out. The beverages will be made with water, Kool-Aid mix, and
      sugar or artificial sweetener. Participants will rate the sweetness of each beverage and how
      much they like it. They will then practice sipping the beverage through a straw and spitting
      it out without swallowing. Those participants who feel comfortable with the sipping and
      spitting exercise will report to the BSU for 10 sipping and spitting exercises. The exercises
      may be scheduled on up to 4 separate days, and may last up to 2 hours per day. Participants
      will eat a standardized breakfast on the morning of the study, and then will not eat again
      until they report to the BSU 4 hours later. Participants will sit alone in a room alone, and
      sip and spit beverages for up to 5 minutes at a time. Between sipping and spitting sessions,
      participants will complete surveys about hunger and other sensations. They will also rinse
      their mouths out with baking soda and water to clear the taste of the previous beverage and
      to prevent discoloration of the mouth from the Kool-Aid. Measurements will include the amount
      of beverage sipped at a time, and how quickly each was sipped.
    

Observational model: Case-Control
Time perspective: Prospective
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        Women with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder as well as gender,
        age, and weight-matched control participants.
      
Keywords: Bulimia Nervosa; Binge Eating Disorder; Obesity; Anorexia Nervosa