[Eating disorders and central nervous system damage].

Eating and swallowing disorders are developed in various periods of feeding. Aspiration, one eating disorder, induces aspiration pneumonitis. Elderly people have higher rate of mortality from aspiration pneumonitis. It is important that aspiration is relate to the breathing mechanism. Both swallowing and breathing are regulated by a solitary tract and aspects of the central nerve system. Eating and swallowing disorders develop as an aftereffect of central nerve system damage (e.g., minimal cerebral vascular disease or Parkinson's disease). Swallowing is regulated by the vagus nerve and glossophayngeal nerve via secretion of substance P, and the amount of substance P secretion depends on the content of dopamine in the basal nucleus. Therefore, dopamine supplement drugs (e.g., L-dopa or amantadine hydrochloride), and agents to block substance P degradation (e.g., angiotensin-converting enzyme) are effective in the treatment of eating disorders. Thus, these indicate that we require an understanding of neuropsychopharmacology for the development of new medical treatments for eating and swallowing disorders.