A new study has revealed that love hormone oxytocin, which is released during sex, childbirth and breastfeeding, could treat anorexia.
According to the study, the hormone has shown to alter anorexics' tendencies to fixate on images of high calorie foods and larger body shapes, News.com.au reported.
Scientists found that anorexics, who were shown images of food and fat body parts, reduced their focus on such images after being given oxytocin using a nasal spray.
Professor Youl-Ri Kim, from Inje University in Seoul, South Korea said that their research adds important evidence to oxytocin treatments for mental illnesses, and hints at the advent of a novel, ground-breaking treatment option for patients with anorexia.
The study is published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.
