Girls with anorexia show some autism - like traits

Postado por Luana Santos

Uma pesquisa desenvolvida em Cambridge, com 66 meninas entre 12 e 18 anos com anorexia, embora sem autismo, mostrou que meninas que sofrem com anorexia tendem a apresentar traços leves de autismo:  têm um interesse acima da média em sistemas e ordem, e os escores abaixo da média na empatia. Os pesquisadores compararam os escores dos participantes com mais de 1.600 adolescentes típicos na mesma faixa de idade, medindo seus traços autistas utilizando um escore chamado Quociente do Espectro Autista (QA – Quociente Autista), sua “sistematização”, utilizando o Quociente de Sistematização (QS), e sua empatia com o Quociente de Empatia (QE).

Os resultados revelaram que, em comparação com meninas típicas do QA, cinco vezes mais meninas com anorexia marcaram na mesma faixa que as pessoas com autismo. Em testes de empatia e sistematização, as meninas com anorexia tinham um QS superior, e um QE reduzido. Esse perfil, disseram os pesquisadores, se iguala aqueles vistos no autismo. Seriam, então, essas descobertas algo que poderia levar à formas alternativas de tratamento de anorexia? Tudo indica que é possível que sim. Afastar os interesses de coisas como o peso e a dieta para outras também sistemáticas pode funcionar, e, além disso, reconhecer que pacientes anoréxicos também precisam de ajuda com habilidades sociais muda toda a perspectiva do tratamento.

Fonte:http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/08/10/girls-with-anorexia-show-some-autism-like-traits/58263.html 

Girls who suffer with anorexia tend to exhibit mild traits of autism — a new finding which could lead to alternative ways of treating anorexia.

The research, led by autism expert Simon Baron-Cohen, Ph.D., at Cambridge University’s Autism Research Centre, showed that compared to typical girls, those with anorexia have an above-average interest in systems and order, and below-average scores in empathy.

This is similar — to a lesser degree — to traits found in autism.  This finding suggests that the two disorders may have common underlying features, said Baron-Cohen.

“Traditionally, anorexia has been viewed purely as an eating disorder. This is quite reasonable, since the girls’ dangerously low weight and their risk of malnutrition or even death has to be the highest priority,” he said.

“But this new research is suggesting that underlying the surface behavior, the mind of a person with anorexia may share a lot with the mind of a person with autism. In both conditions, there is a strong interest in systems. In girls with anorexia, they have latched onto a system that concerns body weight, shape, and food intake.”

People with autism have varying levels of dysfunction in three main areas: social interaction and empathy or understanding, repetitive behavior and interests, and language and communication.

Autism and anorexia share certain features, said Baron-Cohen, such as rigid attitudes and behaviors, a tendency to be very self-focused, and an attraction toward details. Both conditions also feature similar differences in the structure and function of brain regions involved in social perception.

Bonnie Auyeung, Ph.D., who also participated in the research, said these findings may suggest a proportion of females with autism may be getting overlooked or misdiagnosed because doctors see them first with anorexia.

For the study, researchers tested 66 girls, aged 12 to 18, with anorexia but without autism to see how they scored on tests designed to measure autistic traits.

The researchers compared the participants’ scores to over 1,600 typical teenagers in the same age range, measuring their autistic traits using a score called the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), their “systemizing” using the Systemising Quotient (SQ), and their empathy using the Empathy Quotient (EQ).

The findings revealed that, compared to typical girls on the AQ, five times more girls with anorexia scored in the same range as people with autism. On tests of empathy and systemizing, girls with anorexia had a higher SQ, and a reduced EQ, a profile the researchers said parallels that seen in autism.

Dr. Tony Jaffa, who co-led the study, said understanding that some anorexic patients may also have a higher than normal number of autistic traits and a love of systems offers specialists new ideas for ways to treat people with the eating disorder.

“Shifting their interest away from body weight and dieting on to a different but equally systematic topic may be helpful,” he said. “(And) recognizing that some patients with anorexia may also need help with social skills and communication, and with adapting to change, also gives us a new treatment angle.”

Source:  Molecular Autism