Anorexia News: NIMH to Start Long-Term Study of Anorexia Nervosa

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is set to conduct a new long-term study of anorexia nervosa in 240 teens, ages 12 to 18. Researchers plan to start recruiting subjects on May 1 and will follow subjects for a four-year period.

Six research facillities in the United States and Canada will work together with the NIMH on the new study, which will focus on early-intervention treatments.
Anorexia News: NIMH to Start Long-Term Study of Anorexia Nervosa
 

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Halmi is professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and the founder and director of the New York-Presbyterian/Westchester Eating Disorder Treatment Program, one of the research institutions involved in the study.

According to the National Women's Health Information Center, while the vast majority (90 to 95 percent) of people with anorexia nervosa are girls and women, boys and men can also develop the disorder.

Anorexia used to be seen as a "white" disease; women of color were thought to be protected from anorexia by different cultural standards for female body types. In recent years, researchers have found that women of color are more likely to develop eating disorders, the more they are bombarded with media images of too-thin girls and women.

Experts believe that a combination of factors leads to anorexia. American society's worship of ultra-thinness places immense pressure on women - and on men, to a greater extent now than ever before. Research has found that a woman with an anorexic mother or sister is more likely to become anorexic herself. Also, parents who are highly focused on appearance, frequently go on diets, or make negative comments about their children's bodies are more likely to have a child who develops anorexia.

Other factors which may lead to anorexia include trauma, a perfectionistic personality, and a genetic predisposition to the disorder.

Getting help early on is crucial to effective treatment. "We've learned a lot about this highly complex disorder, and we know that genes play a substantial role in determining who is vulnerable to developing eating disorders. We also know that early intervention involving the participation of family members during the adolescent years has proven extremely important in successful treatment," Halmi said.

Treating anorexia, which has the highest death rate of any mental health disorder, is a tremendous challenge for health professionals. "Currently, only a quarter of patients with anorexia nervosa fully recover, and half have partial improvement, but another 25 percent remain chronically ill. There is also a 40 percent rate of relapse," said Halmi

Sources:

MSN.com, article:

http://health.msn.com/centers/mentalhealth/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100159790

National Women's Health Information Center, PDF on anorexia: http://womenshealth.gov/faq/Easyread/anorexia-etr.pdf

Related information
  • The National Institute of Mental Health will begin a long-term study of anorexia in May.
  • The NIMH study will focus on early-intervention treatments.
  • Experts believe that a combination of factors leads to anorexia.
 
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To NIMH-NIH Authorities: Re: Start of the Long-Term Study of Anorexia Nervosa. Anorexia is a protracted burden in schoolgirls, college students and other young and "older" women, which has not been solved so far because of false thinking about the condition ("eating disorder") and other misconceived theories-ideas ("body image etc). If you need useful results and evidence of the root cause(s) of the rampant Anorexia you had better to investigate the adverse effect of the CONDOMIZATION of the (ilicit) female sexuality, of the girls and young women. It is overdue time to provide solution to the life-, health- and reproduction threatening disorder in young women. There are initial results in this regard in an Anorexia study of young female patients and the exposure to (use of) condoms and/or withdrawal practice, which corroborate this fact of life. Further information could be available upon request. Arne N. Gjorgov, MD, MPH, PhD (UNC-SPH, Chapel Hill, NC) Author of the "Barrier Con

Posted on 09/13/2007 at 5:09:00 AM

comment continued: See the American Academy of Pediatric's definition of the disease. Also take a moment to watch a free diagnostic video about this disease in children, produced by the Kartini Foundation, a non-profit, and narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis, at http://www.kartinifoundation.com/spotting_the_tiger.asp. I promise you will learn something.

Posted on 04/09/2007 at 4:04:00 PM

bhanu - You are correct that anorexia is characterized by a distorted body image and a delusional (literally) obsession with fat. This is a symptom, not the cause. Evidence from genetic studies of twins points to the fact that poor body image - or any other "volitional" act by a person is not, indeed _cannot_ be the cause of the disease. You simply can't give yourself anorexia anymore than you can give yourself leukemia. This is a genetically driven disease. Whenever you are unsure if a theory regarding this disease makes sense, insert the word 'cancer' for anorexia, and see if you believe it. For example: "watching images on TV that made me uncomfortable about my body gave me cancer." Or: "My cancer started when I was angry with my mother. It was the only aspect of my life that I could control." Once we put the disease in this context we begin to see how nonsensical some of these explanations truly are. For a scientific understanding of the disease see the American Academy of Pediatri

Posted on 04/09/2007 at 4:04:00 PM

I got my BA in Psycholgy too. I enjoyed learning about this disease from reading your article.

Posted on 04/07/2007 at 10:04:00 PM

I welcome all perspectives. You both bring up some good points.

Posted on 04/03/2007 at 8:04:00 AM

Not sure who you are referring to Mos but while I don't care to spend the time at the moment to look such references up, it would be more beneficial if you wrote a scientific article of your own disputing such alleged psuedo-science.

Posted on 04/02/2007 at 11:04:00 PM

There is no scientific evidence I am aware of that links the media and it's messages to an increase in anorexia, in any populations. It would be great if AC would reference the "studies" that purport this to be true. While it is tempting to think there is a link, it would be the same as claiming you can get diabetes from looking at pictures of cheese burgers. As far as we know, it doesn't happen this way. Please, for everyone's sake don't engage in pseudo-science, regardless how tempting it may be.

Posted on 04/02/2007 at 7:04:00 PM

Thank you all for your comments!

Posted on 04/02/2007 at 11:04:00 AM

Really good article. I am a recovering annorexic, my teen years were the worst times, now the mental part of the disease is what affects me more than anything. I am normal weight now, but I know how important is is to find understanding of this disease.

Posted on 04/02/2007 at 1:04:00 AM

Good article. I understand there is a growing # of cases of women 35 and older with the disease, unlike in years past.

Posted on 04/01/2007 at 7:04:00 PM

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