Compulsive Eating Compared to Drug Addiction

Finally, a recognized scientific study is showing what compulsive overeaters have suspected for years. The same molecular mechanisms that drive people into drug addiction are behind the compulsion to overeat. The startling findings came from The Scripps Research Institute study first released last October.

The study demonstrates clearly that in rat models the development of obesity coincides with a progressively deteriorating chemical balance in reward brain circuitries. As these pleasure centers in the brain become less and less responsive, rats quickly develop compulsive overating habits, consuming larger quantitties of high-calorie, hig-fat foods until they become obese. The very same changes occur in the brains of rats that overconsume cocaine or heroin, and are thought to play an important role in the development of compulsive drug use.

The scientists fed the rats a diet modeled after the type that contributes to human obesity-easy-to-obtain high calorie, high-fat foods like sausage, bacon and cheesecake. Soon after the experiments began, the animals began to bulk up draatically. They continue to overeat even when they anticipated receiving electric shocks, highlighting just how motivated they were to consume the palatable food.

What happens in addiction is lethally simple. The reward pathways in the brain have been so overstimulated that the system basically turns on itself, adapting to the new reality of addiction, whether its cocaine or cupcakes. The researchers determined that the D2 receptor in the brain responds to dopamine, in both drug addiction and obesity. The dopamine floods the brain, overstimulating the receptors, in both drug and junk food addiction.

So what does this mean for the future of obesity? It promises them hope, because the scientific community is now saying obesity should be treated as a disease. Yes, doctors do treat patients with gastric bypass or lapband surgery, but they are not treating the disease. How many health insurance companies pay for obese patients to go to a gym or get educated on proper nutrition? Not many. If it obesity is finally recognized as a disease, as alcohol or cocaine addiction is, there will be affordable treatment centers for those seeking help. Since obesity is one of our biggest (no pun intented) health problems, we can only hope that scientists and health care professional will push for proper treatment of obesity as a disease sooner, rather than later.