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【medical-news】“观”发查进食障碍
From correspondents in New York
October 17, 2006 09:05am
US scientists have come up with a new way to determine whether someone is suffering from an eating disorder - examining their hair.
A study released today by researchers from Utah's Brigham Young University found that examining carbon and nitrogen in the proteins of hair could reveal information about a person's day-to-day nutrition.
Lead author Kent Hatch from the university's department of integrative biology said clinicians could use this as a tool to help diagnose such disorders as anorexia or bulimia because many sufferers lied or did not recognise their problems.
Mr Hatch said current methods used to diagnose and monitor patients suffering from eating disorders relied heavily on questionnaires and interviews.
"Rather than waiting until it's extremely obvious that they've fallen off the wagon if you will, they might be able to take some hair and see whether they've been sticking to the treatment regime that has been prescribed for them, rather than relying on the honesty of the person," Mr Hatch said.
Dietary changes can be measured in head hair after a month of growth and the team is now looking at leg hair and beard growth as well, which could show signs of changes in diet after only six days.
Hair grows by adding new proteins to the base of the strand and pushing the strand up out of the hair follicle.
The make-up of the proteins was influenced by a person's nutrition at that moment, researchers said.
The study, published in the journal Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, compared the chemical pattern in strands of hair between 20 young women seeking treatment for eating disorders and 22 others with normal eating behaviours.
Statistical analysis of the data enabled researchers to give an 80 per cent accurate prediction about whether a person had anorexia or bulimia - the two most common eating disorders.
The test required only five stands of hair.
Doug Bunnell, a clinical director of the Renfrew Centre of Connecticut that specialises in eating disorders and a board member of National Eating Disorders Association, said extra evidence could help patients come to terms with their condition because motivation for treatment was key.
"What this might be useful for is helping present a case to the patient that she really has a disorder that is affecting her physiological health, because one of the hallmarks of these illnesses is denial," Mr Bunnell said.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20595330-1702,00.html 认领了 观“发”察饮食障碍
US scientists have come up with a new way to determine whether someone is suffering from an eating disorder - examining their hair.
美国科学家提出一种新方法诊断饮食紊乱症——头发检测。
A study released today by researchers from Utah's Brigham Young University found that examining carbon and nitrogen in the proteins of hair could reveal information about a person's day-to-day nutrition.
Utah's Brigham Young大学的一项研究显示，通过检测头发中蛋白的碳和氮就可以了解这个人每天的营养状况。
Lead author Kent Hatch from the university's department of integrative biology said clinicians could use this as a tool to help diagnose such disorders as anorexia or bulimia because many sufferers lied or did not recognise their problems.
该研究的第一作者是这所大学综合生物学科的Kent Hatch。他认为许多厌食症和贪食症患者不愿承认甚至隐瞒病情，使临床医生难以做出诊断，而这种方法则可以帮助诊断此类紊乱症。
Mr Hatch said current methods used to diagnose and monitor patients suffering from eating disorders relied heavily on questionnaires and interviews.
Hatch先生说，现行对饮食紊乱症的诊断方法和检测手段很大程度上依赖于问卷调查和访问。
"Rather than waiting until it's extremely obvious that they've fallen off the wagon if you will, they might be able to take some hair and see whether they've been sticking to the treatment regime that has been prescribed for them, rather than relying on the honesty of the person," Mr Hatch said.
Hatch认为，与其依赖病人的诚信，不如让他们拿出一些头发来做检查，看看他们是否按照医嘱进行治疗。
Dietary changes can be measured in head hair after a month of growth and the team is now looking at leg hair and beard growth as well, which could show signs of changes in diet after only six days.
饮食上的改变可以从一个月后的头发中反映出来，同时，研究组现在正在研究脚毛和胡须，这些毛发可以在改变饮食后仅仅6天就显现出变化来。
Hair grows by adding new proteins to the base of the strand and pushing the strand up out of the hair follicle.
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2011-08-31 05:19
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