FARGO (AP) - A five-year $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health will continue a study of women in rural areas who suffer from eating disorders, and whether they can help treat themselves, researchers say.

The study is being led by Dr. James Mitchell, the president of the Neuropsychiatric Research Institute in Fargo and the chairman and professor of clinical neuroscience at the University of North Dakota medical school.

Mitchell said he and his colleagues have found that using telemedicine therapy, known as "televised cognitive behavior therapy" is as effective as therapy provided in person.

The subjects of the study were able to communicate with therapists through interactive video without traveling to see them, Mitchell said.

"Most of these are young women who are very media- and computer-conversant," Mitchell said. "The therapists, who are on average, a bit older, had more concerns over whether it would work. Actually, it was quite acceptable."

The new five-year grant will help continue that study of therapy to rural patients with bulimia, Mitchell said.

"We're trying to see if, in a cost-effective way, we can start people out with self-help," Mitchell said. They may read material, for example, and have brief visits with therapists, he said.

Mitchell said he hopes to include about 300 women in the study, starting March 1.

"We're targeting eight different areas," he said.

Researchers have found results with cognitive therapy - including education, self-monitoring, nutritional counseling and relapse prevention, he said.

"What we're actually examining is, can we initiate it with self-help or supervised self-help?" Mitchell said.

That could provide more affordable care, he said, and it could have implications for treating other mental disorders.