In recent years, scientists have been able to achieve so much in brain research that they have a better idea than ever before of the physical role that the brain plays in eating disorders, as well as in addictions and other conditions that people once considered simply the result of weak wills. The results of this research have been so dramatic that in 2006 the head of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) declared, "Anorexia is a brain disease." What he means is this: The brain's chemical and electrical systems influence things in our bodies. The brain sends nerve messages that stimulate the body chemicals called neurotransmitters - and in eating disorders, these systems aren't functioning correctly.
Scientists have learned that both appetite and energy levels are regulated by a complex network of nerve cells and chemical messengers called neuropeptides. They have focused recently on the neuroendocrine system - a combination of the central nervous system and the network of body chemicals called hormones. This linkage of electrical impulses and chemical connectors creates a carefully balanced mechanism that regulates such critical body conditions as sexual function, physical growth and development, appetite and digestion, sleep, heart and kidney function, emotions, thinking, and memory.
These regulatory mechanisms are (1) fueled by the food the body takes in and breaks down to simple chemicals, and (2) influence the balancing of hunger and activity. When researchers studied these chemical balances, they discovered the following:
So there are many connections between eating activity and brain functions. Some studies show that abnormalities in brain proteins may make a person more vulnerable to eating disorders. What is not yet known is whether chemical imbalances cause eating disorders or whether the abnormal eating causes the imbalances. Still, the more scientists know about the connections between disordered eating and brain chemicals, the better they can understand the disorders.
Another important observation from brain researchers is that the parts of the brain most involved with eating disorders are also those involved with making judgments and decisions. As a teen, that part of your brain is still developing - so when eating disorders are added to the mix, it can impact how you make decisions about life.
Age is included in the risk factors for eating disorders, in part because the teen years are when most of these disorders start. It's also the age when important hormones are shifting. Gender appears to be another factor in eating disorders. Females appear more likely to have an eating disorder than males. Only an estimated 5–15 percent of people with anorexia or bulimia and an estimated 35 percent of those with binge-eating disorder are male. This may have to do with hormones or body-image issues. Some psychologists would look to a girl's relationship with her mother. Or it could be due to a combination of all these factors.
Can you inherit eating disorders? Scientists can't be sure, but they see genetics affecting over half of people with anorexia. There is some evidence that there may be a genetic vulnerability to some personality types or temperaments, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder or high levels of anxiety, that make one more prone to eating disorders. A girl with a mother or sister who has had anorexia nervosa is 12 times more likely to develop the disorder than others with no family history; those with a mother or sister with bulimia are four times more likely to develop it themselves.
It was once thought that eating disorders were mainly a "white woman's disease." Now it is seen to affect African Americans and Asians as well: Increasing numbers of non-Caucasian women and men develop eating disorders, which is thought perhaps to be due in part to the widening global influence of media-spread images.
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