News

The Anorexia ‘Gene’

9 October 2014

By Lauren E. White

According to a new study from Psychologists specialising in mental health disorders, there could possibly be an ‘anorexia gene’.

The condition that is usually blamed on the pressure to be as thin as catwalk models has never been under close inspection of the so-called ‘gene hunters’. Decades of research into other psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia confirmed that those conditions are a genetic disorder – something that is now happening with anorexia.

British and American researchers have officially joined forces with others around the world in aid of launching the largest ever study of the genes that underlie anorexia. Their aim is to gather 25,000 DNA samples from suffers of the disorder and compare them with an unaffected control group of 25,000. This research could prove a conclusion of anxiety being carried in your genes.

With anorexia affecting 12 percent of teenagers and university students, it is something that parents usually feel guilty about. The study may relieve some of the pressure on parents when their child is diagnosed and may lead to better medicine and understanding of the disorder.

To get help if you are suffering from anorexia or any other mental health disorder you can get help from the below numbers:

ChildLine – 0800 1111

Samaritans –  08457 90 90 90

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