The paper that I read for this week argued that obesity, along with genetic and socioeconomic factors, could be a result of an addictive lifestyle based on the reward system in the brain that signals the body to continue to eat high calorie foods that tend to be extremely palatable to humans. Similar to drug addiction, someone who consumes high calorie foods can experience pleasure, making people over consume these nutrient poor food types that result in an addiction-like pleasure from food. Some individuals use food consumption of high calorie substances to subdue feelings of anxiety, depression and mental fatigue, resulting in an addictive form of eating. These individuals have also reported withdrawal like symptoms when their normal compulsive eating behaviors were delayed. Overall, obesity could be part of an addictive cycle of compulsive food consumption, regulated by the pleasure centers in the brain.
Along with additive behavior, I found further information that obesity has also been linked to cognitive impairments, which could further alter a person’s ability to make healthy food choices and perform normal eating habits. Type II diabetes, the form of diabetes that is resistant to the effects of insulin, has been associated with people who are overweight or obese. When insulin isn’t functioning properly in this type of diabetes, there is an excess of sugar in the blood, known as hyperglycemia. It is hypothesized that improper control of blood sugar in diabetic patients is associated with cognitive impairment in some of the following ways:
- While there is not a defined mechanism for cognitive impairment in diabetes, patients with type II diabetes were determined to have cognitive impairments including decreases in attention, processing, memory, and recall of information.
- It has also been determined that people with type II diabetes have an increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
- Furthering the problem with diabetes, improper control of blood sugar in diabetic patients may alter neurotransmitter function. Important neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine, norepinephrine, and dopamine were found to have decreased levels in animal models with diabetes. These neurotransmitters are important for sending messages and signals from the brain to the rest of the body for proper bodily functions.
- High body fat is associated with inflammation of the brain, further impacting cognitive function.
The clinical significance of diabetes associated cognitive impairment has not been defined, as there are not routine cognitive tests in the clinical setting. However, this cognitive impairment caused by the combination of diabetes and obesity could be contributing to overeating by decreasing memory function and compromising decision-making when a person chooses to eat.
Overall, obesity is a complex problem that likely has contributing factors from many different mechanisms in the brain. The cause of obesity varies from person to person such that genetic, socioeconomic, addiction, and induced cognitive impairment are likely only a few of the causal reasons for a person who is obese. With more evidence of the brain’s role in obesity, understanding of reward pathways and cognitive function should be further assessed for possible viable treatments of obesity.
