Drugs commonly used for weight loss, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, have been found to reduce the key symptoms of binge eating disorder, in a new review of evidence led by University College London (UCL) researchers.

The systematic review and meta-analysis, published in eClinicalMedicine, found that weight loss drugs can reduce binge eating episodes, loss-of-control eating and emotional eating, and highlights its potential role to treat binge eating disorder as well as obesity.

Lead author Dr Ilaria Costantini (UCL Psychiatry) said: “Binge eating disorder, where people regularly eat an excessive amount of food while feeling they have lost control, is common and highly impairing, affecting over 17 million people worldwide.

“But treatment options are limited and there are currently no approved medications, so there remains a need for better ways to help people living with this condition. We found evidence that weight loss drugs may help to manage some key symptoms of binge eating disorder.”

In the largest study to date on the subject, the researchers pulled together evidence from 25 randomised controlled trials that took place in 12 countries on four continents, including data from 8,069 participants.

The studies were testing the effects of drugs targeting the appetite-regulating hormone GLP-1 such as semaglutide (often marketed under brand names Ozempic or Wegovy), tirzepatide (also known as Mounjaro) or liraglutide.

These drugs can suppress appetite by targeting the central nervous system and insulin secretion, and they can delay stomach emptying, while also potentially influencing brain processes of reward and impulse control.

The researchers found that the drugs yielded benefits beyond weight loss, including reducing binge eating, loss of control eating and emotional eating.

Participants also reported increased cognitive or dietary restraint (which relates to how much people intentionally limit their eating), but the researchers say more research is needed to understand this link.

The study’s first author, PhD candidate Izzy Emptage (UCL Psychiatry), said: “From the evidence available, we cannot say whether the increase in dietary restraint reflects a positive and helpful form of self-regulation or if it is a more dysfunctional pattern of eating. We hope that future research can clarify whether or not taking weight loss drugs might contribute to more pathological forms of eating restriction such as meal skipping.”

The researchers say their findings demonstrate that weight loss drugs could be an important part of treatment plans for people with binge eating disorder, alongside psychological therapies and social support.

Izzy Emptage added: “Many people with binge eating disorder cannot access weight loss drugs through their public healthcare providers, so many have to seek treatment privately at considerable personal cost.

“We hope that by highlighting the potential of weight loss drugs to help with binge eating symptoms, our findings will lead to further funding of larger high-quality studies in this area, to better understand how this medication could be used in practice and improve treatment options.”

Have trouble sleeping? The reason may depend in part on your age.

A recent study including psychology researchers from Binghamton University, State University of New York investigates how poor sleep alters brain communication across the adult lifespan, specifically examining how these changes vary by age and biological sex.

The article, “Sleep quality is associated with default mode and salience network connectivity differently across age and sex,” appeared in a recent edition of the journal Neurobiology of Aging. Co-authors include psychology graduate student Sepehr Gourabi, and Associate Professor of Psychology Ian McDonough, both at Binghamton; and Selene Tan, Matthew Cribbet, and Jeanne Cundiff of The University of Alabama.

The researchers analyzed brain scans from two large groups totaling more than 1,300 participants to see how brain networks connect at rest in people who report having poor sleep quality. 

“We discovered that the poorly slept older brain looks like it is suffering from a general breakdown in its sleep-regulation systems,” McDonough said. 

College-age adults with poor sleep quality exhibited overconnected brain regions involved in movement, suggesting that their bodies aren’t physically ready to sleep. In older adults, typically age 65 and above, these same regions were under-connected; instead, they showed hyperconnectivity in brain regions involved in cognition.

In particular, older women with poor sleep showed abnormal hyperconnectivity between the Default Mode Network (DMN), which is involved in internal thoughts and memory, and the Frontal Parietal Network (FPN), which is involved in sustained attention and working memory. This over-communication pattern was directly linked to poorer memory performance and mirrors brain wiring patterns seen in the preclinical, silent stages of Alzheimer’s disease, McDonough said.

The reasons behind these differences are currently unclear. Older adults may become habituated to hyperarousal or develop coping mechanisms, including a willingness to take sleep-related medications. Another possible factor is rumination, a state of overthinking often associated with anxiety or depression, although anyone can experience it, depending on their personal situation. 

“One strong possibility is that people who have a lot of running thoughts right before bed are not in a calm state, but rather more of an agitated state,” McDonough said.

Depression has a complicated relationship with dementia, with some studies showing a link between the two conditions. Other research has suggested that depression can resemble cognitive decline, but cognition improves once the individuals are treated for depression, McDonough said.

A chicken-and-egg issue remains: Do abnormal connections in the brain cause sleep dysfunction, or does sleep dysfunction cause those abnormalities? Hyperconnectivity between the DMN and FPN was associated with poorer cognition over time, suggesting that cognitive consequences follow sleep disturbance or increased connectivity between these networks, McDonough said.

Growing evidence suggests that between-network connectivity, especially with the DMN, is an early sign of declining brain health. Because of this, getting enough shut-eye is essential.

For young adults, efforts to reduce arousal before bedtime could help, such as journaling to reduce running thoughts. For older adults, however, the mechanisms are less clear, given that hyperarousal may not be the source. If you’re having problems sleeping, consult your physician, McDonough recommended. 

 “If connectivity changes do precede sleep loss, then strengthening brain networks could be one solution,” he said.

In almost half of all fatal electric scooter crashes in Sweden, the rider has been under the influence of alcohol. These fatal crashes occur mainly in the evenings or through the night, and in all cases, no helmet has been worn. This is shown by a new study from Chalmers University of Technology, in Sweden, and the Swedish Transport Administration. The study also states that most fatal crashes occur with private electric scooters, rather than rentals.

The researchers have analysed all fatal crashes involving electric scooters, electric bicycles and conventional bicycles in Sweden between 2016 and 2024.

Alcohol is often a factor in fatal crashes occurring with all three of these vehicle types – but the figures for electric scooters stand out. Of the fatal e-scooter crashes, 44 per cent of the riders were under the influence of alcohol, compared to 27 per cent among e-bike riders and 13 per cent among cyclists.

More specifically the levels of alcohol in the blood have been shown to be high across all three groups. Of the e-scooter riders that were under the influence of alcohol, the median blood alcohol content was 1.8 per mille. This can be compared to the legal limit of alcohol content in the blood for driving a car in Sweden, which is 0.2 per mille, above which it is considered drunk driving, and 1.0 per mille in the blood which is considered aggravated drunk driving.

“Alcohol intoxication is a common issue among all road users, but it appears to be particularly severe among riders of electric scooters. Not only were many fatally injured e‑scooter riders intoxicated, but their levels of intoxication were also extremely high,” says Marco Dozza, Professor of Active Safety and Road User Behaviour at Chalmers University of Technology, and senior researcher in the study.

Lack of helmets worn in those killed

The study also showed that helmet use in fatal crashes was very low. Of those fatally injured riding an e-scooter, none were wearing a helmet. And for those killed riding an e-bike or a bicycle, only about 25 per cent were wearing a helmet.

Head injuries were the most common cause of death in all groups.

“The numbers speak for themselves. Since the head is the area of the body that is most affected by a fatal injury and almost no one wears a helmet, we have a clear opportunity to save lives. A helmet is not a guarantee but improves the chances dramatically, so we should do everything we can to encourage helmet use,” says Rahul Rajendra Pai, doctoral student at Chalmers and first author of the study.

“I think many people don’t understand the danger of using an electric scooter under the influence of alcohol, and think that the vehicle doesn’t go that fast,” says Marco Dozza. “But it is enough hitting a stone on the road or a small hole in the ground to lose balance, especially when intoxicated, because alcohol slows down cognition and reactions. If you don’t wear a helmet, it may end up even worse”.

Different crash patterns for different vehicles

The study included 204 deaths, and the researchers saw clear differences between the three vehicle types in terms of rider and crash patterns.

In fatal crashes involving ordinary bicycles, the median age of the cyclist was 71 years old. The crashes often occurred on weekdays and usually involved collisions with motor vehicles.

Fatal e-scooter crashes looked different. The riders had a median age of 47.5 years old, and most of the crashes were single vehicle crashes that occurred at weekends, evenings and nights.

According to the researchers, the results indicate the need for measures and regulations to be adapted to the different types of vehicles.

“The typical fatal bicycle crash, with an elderly cyclist being hit by a motor vehicle in daylight, may require completely different countermeasures than the typical fatal electric scooter crash, where a younger rider crashes alone at night while intoxicated,” says Marco Dozza.

Fatal crashes most common with private electric scooters

Almost nine out of ten alcohol-related e-scooter deaths occurred with privately owned vehicles. Public debate and regulations have largely focused on rented electric scooters, and operators have introduced measures such as speed limits and night restrictions. However, these measures do not affect privately owned electric scooters.

According to the researchers, rules and measures can to some extent counteract crashes with electric scooters. Marco Dozza, for example, is leading an ongoing study on how today’s sensor technology in rented electric scooters can make it possible to detect impaired riding ability in real time.

“If a vehicle can identify that its rider is not in control, it is possible to take various measures before a crash occurs. That kind of intelligent intervention can save lives, and is within reach,” he says.

At the same time, he emphasises that neither rules nor sensor technology alone can solve the problem.

“The big challenge with electric scooter riding is social norms and rider behaviour, and this does not disappear with regulations. Training is an important key to understanding how the vehicle should be handled and what you can, and cannot, do.

Rikard Fredriksson, Senior Advisor in Vehicle Safety at the Swedish Transport Administration and co-author of the study, agrees: 

“Alcohol is still a major problem for road safety in Sweden. Alcohol is involved in about 20 per cent of all fatal road crashes. This study shows that the number of alcohol-related fatalities involving electric scooters is more than twice as high, at 44 per cent. We are committed to the development of technology to counteract electric scooter driving under the influence of alcohol. It is also important to always wear a helmet, and to use only a vehicle that cannot exceed legal speed,” he says.  

The study, “Three modes, three profiles: Characterizing fatal crashes on e-scooters, e-bikes and conventional bicycles in Sweden”, has been published in the Journal of Safety Research. The authors are Rahul Rajendra Pai and Marco Dozza at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, as well as Rikard Fredriksson at the Swedish Transport Administration and Chalmers University of Technology.