Anorexia Linked to Brain Defect, Rather Than Social Pressures

[Guest guest]

I have always suspected that this " disease " was the result of some kind of brain

imbalance or brain damage.

 

I experienced it myself when I stoppped taking certain prescription medications.

My weight dropped from 165 pounds to about 130 pounds in a span of about 5-6

weeks. After that I was convinced that it was externally caused. Probably it is

usually caused by some kind of toxic damage including pharmacuetical drugs type

damage. F.

 

 

 

 

http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/040705HB.shtml

 

Anorexia Linked to Brain Defect, Rather Than Social Pressures

By Jeremy Laurance

The Independent UK

 

Thursday 07 April 2005

 

The eating disorder anorexia nervosa could be caused by a brain

dysfunction, rather than social pressures, a study shows.

 

Researchers at St George's Hospital in Tooting, south London,

found sufferers have an abnormality in the blood flow to an area of

the brain which affects body image. In results presented at an

international conference in London, the researchers say this points to

a biological cause for the condition.

 

More than a million people in Britain suffer from eating disorders

which were thought to be caused by social and cultural pressures.

There are 11 new cases of anorexia diagnosed per 100,000 population

each year, 90 per cent of them women, the Eating Disorders Association

says.

 

Bryan Lask, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at St

George's who led the research, said finding a biological cause could

change the way the condition was treated.

 

" The biological cause has been under-emphasized and the

socio-cultural pressures have been over-emphasized, " he said. " There

has to be a biological contribution otherwise everyone would be

anorexic, given the socio-cultural pressures in our society.

 

" I am not saying people are born anorexic ... But I am saying some

people are born with a genetic pre-disposition to anorexia which makes

it more likely to develop. If you live in a society which promotes

thinness as the ideal, you are more likely to develop anorexia if you

have the biological predisposition. "

 

The researchers used brain imaging and neurological testing which

revealed the abnormal blood flow. " There is a low blood flow in one

specific part of the brain on one side, " Professor Lask said. " It

occurs only in people with anorexia and does not occur in people

without anorexia. "

 

Anorexia is defined as a body weight maintained at least 15 per

cent below that expected for the individual's height and age and has

the highest death rate of any psychiatric condition. There are 11 new

cases of anorexia diagnosed per 100,000 population each year, 90 per

cent of them women.

 

Professor Lask said the abnormal blood flow observed in the brain

imaging studies was more likely to be a cause than an effect of weight

loss.

 

" It is such a specific effect in only one part of the brain. If it

were the result of starving yourself you would expect global changes

round the brain. And it tends not to return to normal when weight is

regained. That is why we think it is cause rather than effect. "

 

The discovery could ultimately point the way to a new treatment

for anorexia, Professor Lask said. " But that could be 10 to 20 years

away. This has helped us explain the difficulty people with anorexia

have in inhibiting tormenting thoughts. They become totally obsessed

with the idea that they are fat and overweight. It will enable us to

put our energy into trying to alter their thinking processes. "

 

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