"Love" Hormone May Help Anorexics Accept Their Body and Food

Anorexics may find help accepting food and body images from doses of oxytocin, a hormone commonly referred to as the "love hormone," according to two new studies looking into the effects and possible applications of the hormone.

oxytocin is a hormone released naturally in human during sex, childbirth, and even breast-feeding, and has been tied to feelings of affection and even "love." Previous studies have found that heightened levels of oxytocin help men and women find the people around them more attractive and lower feelings of aggression.

In two new studies authored by Professor Youl-Ri Kim, from the Inje University in Seoul, South Korea, researcher have found that oxytocin reduces patients unconscious tendencies to feel negative emotions associated with food and body shape, such as disgust. Knowing this, he theorizes that additional and regular doses of the hormone administered to anorexic patients may help them become more accepting of food and their own body.

In one study, published in Psychoneuroendocrinology, 64 participants were either given a placebo or a dose of oxycotin delivered via nasal spray. The participants were then asked to look as a sequence of images relating to food, body shape, and weight. The participants, 31 having anorexia and 33 being a control group, were measured on how quickly they identified each image when it was shown to them. It was theorized that anorexic patients who dwelled on negative images regarding food, body, and weight daily would identify them quicker; and this proved true in the case of anorexic participants given the placebo. However, anorexics who received the oxytocin dose had a reduced focus on negative images, often focusing on "positive" and "negative" body and food images equally.

A second study, published in PLOS ONE, involved the same participant groups and a similar test set up. Again participants were given either a placebo or a dose of oxytocin and asked to identify pictures before and after taking their allotted treatment. In this study, the participants were asked to identify images of facial expressions displaying anger, happiness, or disgust. Anorexic patients who were sensitive to disgust expressions showed a significantly lower sensitivity after taking the oxytocin.

The researchers write that they hope to test the applications of oxytocin as a treatment for social disorders such as anorexia on a larger scale in the near future.

The studies were published this March in PLOS ONE and for the April Issue of Psychoneruoendocrinology.