Anorexia could be caused by brain dysfunction

[HuckleB]

Anorexia could be caused by brain dysfunction

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10119226

"The eating disorder anorexia nervosa could be caused by a brain dysfunction, rather than social pressures, according to a radical new theory.

Researchers at St George's hospital in Tooting, south London have found that sufferers from anorexia have an abnormality in the blood flow to an area of the brain which affects body image.

In results presented for the first time yesterday at an international conference in London, they say this points to a biological cause for the condition.

...

The study of 60 patients, some of whom have been followed for a number of years, is to be published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

..."

[Love Bug]

1. That's interesting

I'd like to see more studies on this. I wonder if similar blood-flow issues affect the brains of the obese?

[HuckleB]

16. It's certainly worth exploring, IMHO.

[emad]

2. Dupe: see:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=228x5502

[seriousstan]

5. It's only a dupe if it has been posted on LBN before,

[Runcible Spoon]

3. would be nice to study the brain dysfunction that causes

some members of our society to find anorexic women atractive.

[UCLA Dem]

4. Agreed!

[seriousstan]

6. That would be those in the fashion industry. I don't recall any in Playboy

or any of the other mainstream men's magazines. Of course I am older, but when I was younger and Twiggy hit the scene, nobody I knew thought it was attractive. I also don't see a great demand for skeletal woman among the men I work and associate with.

However, in the women's magazines and fashion catalogs I see plenty of anemic looking women. So don't study male brains if you want your answer. We are not chasing Twiggy.

[HuckleB]

10. Well...

I don't think the numbers reported in this article are accurate, but... there are more males with eating disorders than popularly believed.

http://entertainment.news.com.au/story/0,10221,12583102-22810,00.html

[Runcible Spoon]

11. I recall reading study that tracked the proportions of PLayboy models

over time...and I seem to recall the recall the the waist to hip ratios reflected a thinner woman as the standard of beauty. I'm not saying all men are like this, but consumption trends point to this as a mainstreak problem.

[all.of.me]

7. i went out with a guy like that two years ago!

i had just lost 35 pounds and was feeling and looking great, considering i was almost 50 and had two kids that nursed a total of seven years. i was hot!

he said i was fat. what?!?!?!?!?!

then he met an acquaintance of mine. she works out constantly, eats only vegetables and fruit, and is grossly thin. she always looks sickly. besides, she is a nut case in the head.

so.... this guy that thinks i am fat thinks she is beautiful!!!!!

'yuck!' said my friends and i.

i'll tell you about his brain dysfunction - he shot himself dead last summer.

[Runcible Spoon]

9. OMG I would have lost it!

what happened in that man's childhood to make him say somethng like that??!!???

[all.of.me]

13. needlesss to say, that was the beginning of the end of that relationship!

his dad beat him senseless as a kid. it was a very interesting story. his dad was the sole survivor in his family of the holocaust. he wrote a story about it, and i read it. it was very sad.

he never dealt with his anger about it, so he beat marc, so bad that his back was bent over from cowering. marc worked through a lot of his anger around it, but he still had vestiges of it, like this instance with this woman.

[HuckleB]

8. (From an older paper) Biological Causes of Anorexia Nervosa

Biological Causes of Anorexia Nervosa:
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro98/202s98-paper3/Hirst3.html

also...

Chemical malfunction plays role in bulimia, researchers say:
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9902/14/bulimia/index.html

and...

Genetic clues to eating disorders:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/259226.stm

&...

Brain chemicals may cause bulimia:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/192727.stm

[HuckleB]

17. k.i.c.k.

[HuckleB]

12. A genetic link to anorexia

A genetic link to anorexia
http://www.apa.org/monitor/mar02/genetic.html

also...

Exploring the Gene-Environment Nexus in Anorexia, Bulimia
http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/p040801b.html

[daleo]

14. I imagine there could be some biological and cultural interaction.

Perhaps some brain dysfunction that affects body image, but manifests itself according to the conventions of the culture in which the individual is immersed. In modern western cultures, that might be eating too little. In other cultures it might be something else.

[HuckleB]

15. Indeed, there is much more to explore.

Still, anorexia has been noted across cultures.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=222x1040

[demgurl]

18. I know several people who are anorexic or bulumic....

and do you know that 75% of them have been raped at some point? I am not saying that that is the reason why all people get eating disorders but I wonder if anyone has ever thought about that or even looked into it. It could be coincidence but it is also food for thought.