MATTE RELEASE--(COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--Nov 3, 2003--We`ve all heard about the advances in genetic research being made, like the Human Genome Project, and anyone who`s had high school biology knows that genes determine the qualities that make us individuals -- hair color, eye color, etc. But can genes give you an eating disorder? That`s what a new study is aiming to find out.
Although eating disorders can occur at any point in a person`s life, they appear primarily in college years. You may not have an eating disorder but, according to statistics from the National Eating Disorders Association:
* 91% of women surveyed on a college campus had attempted to control their weight through dieting, 22% dieted ''often'' or ''always'';
* 35% of ''normal dieters'' progress to pathological dieting. Of those, 20-25% progress to partial or full-syndrome eating disorders;
And it`s not just women either -- 25 percent of American men are also on a diet on any given day. Therefore, if 91 percent of women and 25 percent of men on this campus are dieting and 25 percent of those will progress to an eating disorder, there`s a good chance you or someone you know has, or will develop, one.
It has been observed for decades that eating disorders sometimes run in families. Even when relatives of a woman with an eating disorder have not been clinically diagnosed, many display traits associated with the syndrome � being obsessed with weight, ''eating like a bird,'' or hating their appearance.
Formal family studies have shown that relatives of individuals with eating disorders are at substantially greater risk for developing one themselves. In fact, preliminary studies indicate that individuals with a mother or sister who has suffered from anorexia are twelve times more likely than people without a family history to develop anorexia. In addition, these same family members have a four times greater risk for developing bulimia.
Now researchers around the world are trying to determine whether genes influence the risk for anorexia. The first ever, government-funded genetic study of anorexia nervosa has brought together 11 groups of researchers from North America and Europe.
The researchers are currently recruiting families with two or more members, mainly siblings, who have had anorexia to analyze their DNA. The findings could eventually revolutionize the prevention, detection and treatment of anorexia nervosa � which has the highest fatality rate of any psychiatric disorder.
''Studies such as this one should help us understand how differences in the genes of some individuals contribute to the illness. The findings should help develop truly effective therapies,'' said Walter H. Kaye, M.D. professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and co-principal investigator.
If you want to learn more about the genetics of anorexia or perhaps participate in this study, visit www.angenetics.org or www.nationaleatingdisorders.org, or call 1-888-895-3886 to speak to a research representative.
|
