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New psychotherapy treats most eating disorders
A new form of psychotherapy American Journal of Psychiatry,
has the potential to treat more Professor Fairburn and his
than eight out of ten cases of colleagues have now shown that
eating disorders in adults, an CBT-E is not only more potent
Oxford University-led study has than the earlier treatment, but it
shown.
can be used to treat both bulimia
The eating disorders anorexia nervosa and the atypical eating
nervosa and bulimia nervosa disorders. This makes it suitable
are well known; the remainder for over 80% of cases of eating
are classed as ‘atypical eating disorders.
disorders’. All are a major cause Two versions of CBT-E were
of physical and psychosocial compared in the study, which
impairment in young women, treated 154 people via 20
affecting at least one in twenty weekly 50-minute outpatient
women between the ages of appointments. A simple version
18 and 30. They also occur focused solely on the eating
in young men but are less disorder and a second, more
common.
complex version simultaneously
The new treatment, an addressed commonly
‘enhanced’ form of cognitive associated problems such as
behavioural therapy (CBT-E), low self-esteem and extreme
derives from an earlier form perfectionism.
of CBT that was designed
The researchers found that
exclusively for patients with most patients responded
bulimia nervosa. Both were well and rapidly to the two
developed by Professor
forms of CBT-E and that the
Christopher Fairburn in the changes were sustained over
Department of Psychiatry. the following year (the time at
In a study published in the which relapse is most likely to
Eating disorders affect around 5% of young women
occur). Around two-thirds of to the more complex treatment
those who completed treatment and vice versa.
made a complete and lasting ‘Eating disorders are serious
response with many of the mental health problems and
remainder showing substantial can be very distressing for both
improvement. Patients with patients and their families,’ says
bulimia nervosa or an atypical Professor Fairburn. ‘Now, for
eating disorder responded the first time, we have a single
equally well, though a planned treatment which can be effective
sub-analysis showed that at treating the majority of cases
patients with particularly complex without the need for patients to
clinical features responded better be admitted into hospital.’
iStockphoto/Aldo MurilloSdominick
news
Two malaria treatments for children show promise
Clinical trials of a new malaria
vaccine have shown it provides
both infants and young children
with substantial protection
against malaria. The results are
published in the New England
Journal of Medicine.
Studies of the RTS,S vaccine
candidate developed by
GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals
were conducted in Kenya and
Tanzania as part of a global
effort led by The PATH Malaria
Vaccine Initiative (MVI). Oxford
University scientists led the work
in Kilifi, Kenya.
In children aged 5–17 months,
the vaccine candidate was
found to be 56% effective in
preventing clinical disease.
The findings support efforts
to launch large-scale trials of
the vaccine starting in 2009
across Africa.
Other research, reported in
The Lancet, has shown that a
simple treatment saves lives by
buying the time necessary for
children with severe malaria in
rural areas of Asia and Africa to
get to a clinic for full treatment.
Professor Nick White of
Oxford’s Centre for Tropical
Medicine and the Faculty of
Tropical Medicine, Mahidol
University, Thailand says:
‘We’ve shown that children
with severe malaria who are
hours from a health clinic
and are too ill to take their
medicine by mouth can
be given a single, simple
suppository. This knocks down
the malaria parasites in the
blood and buys life-saving time
to get the children to a clinic
for proper diagnosis and full
treatment.’
Blueprint January 2009 3