Should we rethink the causes of anorexia?

Conclusion Anorexia is a notoriously difficult illness to treat. While people do recover, many live with this devastating condition for years, and some die from it. Because anorexia is so difficult to cure, researchers are interested in finding out more about how the condition works. A better understanding of the underlying causes might help find better treatments. This study is an interesting addition to that understanding. A primary feature of anorexia was always thought to be fear of weight gain, and many people with anorexia say they do fear putting on weight. But this study found that a desire to be very thin may be as important, or possibly more important, than a fear of gaining weight. There are some important caveats. Showing an electrical reaction in the skin when people look at images of underweight bodies, and hearing that people with anorexia would be happy to have an underweight body, is not the same as proving that a desire to be thin underlies the illness. The electrical reaction was assumed to be one of excitement, but it could equally have been one of increased anxiety. The study involved only 71 people, with different types of anorexia and at different stages in their illness. A bigger study with more specific groups might help us understand more. For example, we don't know whether a preference for underweight body types triggers anorexia, or whether this preference is learned as anorexia develops. The control group only included 20 people, meaning thei...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Mental health Neurology Source Type: news