What are Anorexia and Bulimia?
Anorexia nervosa is a brain disorder that causes the sufferer to compulsively restrict his or her intake of food. The resulting starvation puts the ill person at risk of permanent medical damage and psychological repercussions. It is more lethal than any other psychiatric condition. People who suffer from anorexia usually resist treatment and deny anything is wrong.
Bulimia nervosa is a similar disorder in which the sufferer binges on food and then purges it through vomiting, laxatives, excessive exercise, or other means.
Eating disorders have long been blamed on traumatic experiences, parental control or neglect, social pressures, vanity, and subliminal motivations. However, it is now well-established that that anorexia and bulimia are genetically transmitted mental illnesses in which the internal regulators of appetite, fullness, body image, and self-preservation are temporarily thrown off-course.
Researchers, who have traditionally searched for external and psychological triggers for these deadly diseases, are increasingly looking into neurological, endocrine, autoimmune, and other physiological explanations for the compulsions and sensations of eating disordered patients. Genetic researchers are building an international database that will shed light on possible genes or gene combinations that may trigger, maintain, or cause eating disorders.
Newsweek's cover story: "No One To Blame"
MSNBC report on recent DNA research.
Kartini Clinic's online video about anorexia nervosa as brain disease narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis.
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