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(RRL) Eating Disorders

Abnormal levels of serotonin, whether too high or too low, can affect mood and mental health, and influence eating behaviors and disorders. High serotonin can cause mild symptoms while low serotonin causes more severe issues like depression and anxiety. Changes in serotonin levels have been linked to eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Certain agents like tryptophan that increase serotonin levels have shown effectiveness in treating some eating disorders by regulating mood and impulsivity. More research is providing insights into the biological and psychological factors involved in eating disorders and their relationship to abnormal serotonin levels.

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182 views

(RRL) Eating Disorders

Abnormal levels of serotonin, whether too high or too low, can affect mood and mental health, and influence eating behaviors and disorders. High serotonin can cause mild symptoms while low serotonin causes more severe issues like depression and anxiety. Changes in serotonin levels have been linked to eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Certain agents like tryptophan that increase serotonin levels have shown effectiveness in treating some eating disorders by regulating mood and impulsivity. More research is providing insights into the biological and psychological factors involved in eating disorders and their relationship to abnormal serotonin levels.

Uploaded by

Mark Brandon Vitor
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Abnormal Serotonin Level and Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are mental illnesses where the afflicted experience severe disturbances
in their eating behaviors in relation to their thoughts and emotions. Serotonin has always been
correlated in various eating disorders. Abnormal serotonin level; whether too high or low, can
affect an individual’s mood and even their mental health. Having too much serotonin can cause
mild symptoms such as heavy sweating, restlessness, confusion, headaches, and shivering.
Having low level of serotonin however, will cause more severe symptoms including depression,
anxiety, and sleep trouble. In theory, having these symptoms can affect an individual’s eating
routine. It is known that abnormal levels of serotonin in the serotonergic system predominate on
ethiopathogenesis of impulsiveness and aggression that leads to various symptoms including an
eating disorder called anorexia bulimia. (Fathi Himli Cetin, Yasemin Tas Torun, Esra Guney,
2017). This means that either excessive or deficient levels of serotonin can affect an individual’s
eating pattern.

There are also evidence that behavioral addictions, such as pathological gambling (PG)
and binge eating disorder (BED), appear to be associated with specific changes in serotonin
level, specifically the serotonin 5-HT2C receptor (Majuri, J. et al, 2017). Eating behaviors are
therefore modulated by central serotonin receptors and can also participate in the regulation of
behavioral impulsivity and mood meaning deregulation of serotonin has been correlated to eating
disorder patients.

A more and more comprehensive understanding of the range of biological and


psychological abnormalities associated with these eating disorders has been achieved through
recent studies on Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. In this study, it is found that
hereditary vulnerabilities, societal stresses, and traumatic experiences of individuals and families
all of which is related to an abnormal decrease of serotonin level, may lead to the beginning of
excessive dieting, binge eating, and purging. (Walsh, B., Devlin, M., 2018)

Increasing serotonin level can be crucial in managing certain eating disorders.


Tryptophan is one such agent as it is an essential amino acid that is used to increase serotonin. It
is widely used as an antidepressant as it increases the brain chemical called serotonin. This agent
is found to be an effective therapeutic agent that can be given to patients with anorexia nervosa
(AN); an eating disorder associated with high levels of psychiatric comorbidity (Haleem,
Darakhshan Jabeen, 2017)

References: (APA 7th ed.)

Johansson, Majuri, Joutsa. (2017, May 17). Serotonin. Google Books.


https://books.google.com.ph/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=E8WPDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA241&dq=serotonin+and+eating+disorders
&ots=PHukAw5M8w&sig=S2wYdvtGgQskea1YsdwHaDsr4pg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=se
rotonin%20and%20eating%20disorders&f=false

Cetin, Torun, Guney. (2017, November 10). Serotonin transporter density in binge eating
disorder and pathological gambling: A PET study with [11C]MADAM. ScienceDirect.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0924977X173093

Jabeen Haleem, D. (2017, June 1). Improving therapeutics in anorexia nervosa with tryptophan.
ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0024320517301959

Walsh, B., Devlin, M. (2018, May 29). Eating Disorders: Progress and Problems. Retrieved
December 03, 2020, from https://science.sciencemag.org/content/280/5368/1387.abstract

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