Biological Factors That Influence Anorexia Nervosa

Portia De Rossi only weighed 82 pounds when she collapsed on the set of the Hollywood film in which she was playing her first leading role. She was later quoted saying, “ I restricted when I was hungry and in need of nutrition and binged when I was so grotesquely full I couldn't be comfortable in any position by lying down.” Unfortunately, many people along with Rossi suffer from anorexia nervosa; anorexics struggle with their self-image both physically and mentally. An anorexic often has a distort perception of their body; they might believe they are overweight when they are actually off par of the normal weight. America’s media is one of the largest cultural pressures that influence society’s unhealthy perception of an ideal body; our beauty

Among them are genetics. Recent research shows that scientists are finding a link between genetics and anorexia; it is possible that genetics can cause anorexia. In the article Anorexia and Bulimia, Cracking the Genetic Code Gina Shaw writes about how a private European foundation conducted research into the genetics of anorexia. “Their early results found a couple of "likely suspects": areas on chromosomes 1 and 10 that appear to be significantly linked with anorexia and bulimia. Follow-up studies of candidate genes have identified several genes that may increase a person's vulnerability to these disorders.” Although research studies show that genetics may have some effect on the likelihood of admitting anorexia, it has not yet been proven that genetics is indeed hereditary. In the same article, author Gina Shaw later quotes Craig Johnson, PhD, director of the Eating Disorders Program at Laureate Psychiatric Clinic saying, “I don't think any of us feel that we're going to find a single gene that will account for anorexia nervosa and bulimia, such as with the gene for Huntington's disease, we're convinced that instead there will be a number of genes that, to small effect, line up to create susceptibility.” This research finding explains that although genes maybe increase one’s chance of getting anorexia, it is not definite that it is. In the same article Gina Shaw quotes, “ I think what we're learning is that the genetic predisposition interacts with the culture to bring about anorexia and other eating disorders, you're born with the gun, and society -- your cultural and environmental circumstances -- pulls the trigger.” Biological factors such as genetics may have a degree in which it affects the likelihood of getting anorexia, but recent studies show that the link between genetics and anorexia is not strong enough to validate that anorexia is genetically inherited. Until scientists prove that