Soon, Anorexia Drugs Hope To Treat Eating Disorders

Anorexia treating drugs could be developed following study which found that subtle differences in brain development in the womb can be responsible for the condition.

Following a discovery by researchers that subtle differences in brain development in the womb can trigger an eating disorder like anorexia, drugs to treat the condition are now hopefully on the anvil.

In a research, scientists have found that 70 per cent of anorexic individuals show signs of problems with neurotransmitters, chemicals which help brain cells communicate, reports The Telegraph.

Anorexia Nervosa - Types Complications Causes Treatment FAQs
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder most commonly found among teenage girls. Anorexia nervosa is characterized by a very low body weight, generally defined as 15% below the Body Mass Index.

The report, which will be released at a conference at the Institute of Education in London this week, suggests that these developmental changes meant the patients were particularly vulnerable to eating disorders - a finding which prompted authors to propose screening children at the age of eight and experts to claim it could "pave the way for the first drugs".

One of the report's authors, Ian Frampton, an honorary consultant in paediatric psychology at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital, said: "Our research shows that certain kids' brains develop in such a way that makes them more vulnerable to the more commonly known risk factors for eating disorders, such as the size-zero debate, media representations of very skinny women and bad parents.

"Arguments that social factors such as girls feeling under pressure to lose weight in order to look like high-profile women in the media contain logical flaws because almost everyone is exposed to them, yet only a small percentage of young people get anorexia."

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After studying 51 teenagers with anorexia nervosa and an equal number of healthy persons for a number of years, a team of Swedish scientists have come to the conclusion that psychiatric

Susan Ringwood, chief executive of Beat, an eating disorder charity, said the research could "pave the way for the first drugs to be developed to treat eating disorders, similar to the way that anti-depressants help rebalance the brain of people with depression".

"Parents always blame themselves," she said, "but what we are learning more and more is that some people are very vulnerable to anorexia and that is down to genetic factors and brain chemistry and not them trying to look like celebrity models or suffering a major traumatic even early in their lives."

Anorexia Hits Men as Well
Lifestyle choices seem to impact men as well with many of them suffering from anorexia, according to a new survey in Britain.

Source-ANI
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Anorexia Linked To Genes
Anorexia nervosa is said to have a genetic association.