Eating Disorder Research Essay example

Incidences of Anorexia Nervosa have appeared to increase sharply in the USA, UK and western European countries since the beginning of the 60s (Gordon, 2001). The increasing prevalence of the disease has led the World Health Organisation to declare eating disorders a global priority area within adolescent mental health (Becker et al. 2011). Anorexia has in many ways become a modern epidemic (Gordon, 2000) and with a mortality rate of 10% per decade (Gorwood et al. 2003), the highest of any mental disorder (Bulik et al. 2006), it is an epidemic that social and biological scientists have been working tirelessly to understand.

Eating disorder is the abnormal eating behavior that would negatively impact one’s health, emotions and ability to function in important areas of life. Eating disorders include several categories: binge eating disorder, which means people eat large amount in a short period, anorexia nervosa which people eat very little, bulimia nervosa which people eat a lot and then try to rid themselves of food, pica which people eat non-food items, rumination disorder means people regurgitate food, avoidant food intake means that people have a lack of interest in food, and other specified eating disorders (ANAD). There is believed to be no single cause for eating disorders, as all the biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors contribute to this illness. Studies have shown that specific chromosomes may be associated with bulimia and anorexia (NY times). Eating disorders may also be caused by imbalance of serotonin and dopamine which explain why people who have anorexia

However, it’s difficult to establish cause and effect in Bailer’s research, this is because the women studied were already recovering from an eating disorder and so it’s impossible to know whether the imbalance of serotonin was the cause of the women’s AN or whether the AN causes an imbalance of

While it has been long assumed that bulimia and anorexia have stemmed from insecurities and poor choices; DNA, genetics, endorphins, cholecystokinin, and CCK levels, among other things, are all important deciding factors of whether or not someone will be plagued with the diseases. Among the two, bulimia nervosa has had the most backed research on what could be the cause and nature of the disease. Bulimia Nervosa is a binge eating disorder. During these binges the participants eat without their food hormone receptors turning off resulting in them eating more than what would be FDA approved. After one of their binges they quickly purge themselves in a hope to lose the weight they gained during their binges. Pinpointing the causes of it have proven difficult because the disorder has both mental and psychical components, and it develops in

Research also suggests that genes may be involved in binge eating, since the disorder often occurs in several members of the same family.

Anorexia Nervosa is the condition when an individual abstains from food in order to lose weight or prevent more weight gain. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV(DSM-IV) there are four aspects of criteria to be diagnosed with anorexia: a refusal to maintain weight above what is minimally normal for one’s age and height, and extreme fear of weight gain, distorted body image, and (in females) having amenorrhea(missing three or more consecutive menstrual cycles.)(DSM-IV, 2000:589) Anorexia not only affects weight, but also alters bone growth, neurotransmitters and hormones in the brain, and electrolytes.

Each year millions of people in the United States develop serious and often fatal eating disorders. More than ninety percent of those are adolescent and young women. The consequences of eating disorders are often severe--one in ten end in death from either starvation, cardiac arrest, or suicide. Due to the recent awareness of this topic, much time and money has been attributed to eating disorders. Many measures have been taken to discover leading causes and eventual treatment for those suffering from anorexia. (http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource ...er.html#Causes of Eating Disorders) )

An eating disorder is an illness that involves an unhealthy feeling about the food we eat. “Eating disorders affect 5-10 millions Americans and 70 million individuals worldwide” (www.eatingdisorderinfo.org 1). They also affect many people from women, men, children, from all ages and different races. People who have eating disorders usually see themselves as being fat when they really aren’t. This usually deals with women or teenage girls mostly. They watch television, movies, read articles in magazines, and see pictures of the celebrities whom they want to be like because they have the “ideal body” that everyone wants and craves for. The media makes us all think we need those types of bodies to be happy with ourselves, be more successful

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that consists of self-regulated food restriction in which the person strives for thinness and also involves distortion of the way the person sees his or her own body. An anorexic person weighs less than 85% of their ideal body weight. The prevalence of eating disorders is between .5-1% of women aged 15-40 and about 1/20 of this number occurs in men. Anorexia affects all aspects of an affected person's life including emotional health, physical health, and relationships with others (Shekter-Wolfson et al 5-6). A study completed in 1996 showed that anorexics also tend to possess traits that are obsessive in nature and carry heavy emotional

The Academy for Eating Disorders, AED, takes the position that eating disorders are “biologically based” (Klump, 2009, p. 97) due to the findings from twin studies research. This position is supported by the longitudinal study conducted by Patton and colleagues (1999), in which they hypothesize there are biological predictors in the development of eating disorders among adolescent girls

Many researchers have found that genetics are linked to eating disorders. Studies have shown that genetics are responsible for 56% of the onset of bulimia, anorexia, and binge eating (Johnson and Bulik). The Eating Disorder Review said that a person is four times more likely to become bulimic and twelve times more likely to become anorexic if he or she has a sister or mother who suffers from an eating disorder (Kittleson 44). Studies of identical twins have also

Researchers have discovered an area on chromosome 1 that appears to be associated with an increased susceptibility to anorexia. Others can suffer from psychological reasons. People that feel low self-worth sometimes become anorexic to make themselves feel better. Anorexia’s may have an extreme drive for perfectionism, which means they may never thing they’re thin enough. A lot of people suffer because of sociocultural reasons. The media is filled with images of thin models and actors, which associates success and worth with being thin. Peer pressure from friends, coworkers, and classmates also causes some people to feel there not fitting it.

a. According to Doctor Thomas Insel and director of NIMH, scientist and researchers have always been interested in the role of genetics on eating disorders but they are still far away from knowing specific geneses that causes eating disorder

Eating disorders stem from a combination of psychological, biological, and social factors. Feelings of depression and anxiety along with daily stressors can contribute to

Hoffman states, “In trying to understand the causes of eating disorders, scientists have studied the personalities, genetics, environments, and biochemistry of people with these illnesses. As is often the case, the more that is learned, the more complex the roots of eating disorders appear.”