The trigger for Anorexia Nervosa may lie in our genes!

ABC News: A researcher at a Tulsa clinic says a decade-long study into anorexia nervosa is beginning to reveal that those who suffer from the disease might have a genetic predisposition toward it.

The study, known as the Genetics of Anorexia Nervosa collaboration, is being done in eight cities in North America, including Tulsa, and two European cities. It is funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Researcher Craig Johnson said that if a person has a family member who has had anorexia nervosa, she or he is 12 times more at risk of developing the illness.

"Genetics loads the gun. Environment pulls the trigger," said Johnson, the director of the eating disorders unit at Laureate Psychiatric Hospital in Tulsa and one of the study's principal researchers.

Tulsa, other North American cities involved in the study are Pittsburgh, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Toronto and Fargo, N.D. In Europe, London and Munich, Germany, are a part of the study.

Johnson said researchers have devoted much attention during the past 40 years into looking into how a culture that promotes dieting provokes eating disorders.

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An awareness video on ‘Anorexia Nervosa’

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that is characterized by low body weight and body image distortion. Individuals suffering from this disease control body weight by voluntary starvation, purging vomiting, excessive exercise, or other weight control measures, such as diet pills or diuretic drugs. This disease primarily affects young adolescent girls in the western world and has one of the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric condition, with approximately 10% of people diagnosed with the condition eventually dying due to related factors.

This video is made with an intention to create awareness on this disease and to show how this disease could ruin one’s lifestyle.