Inheriting Eating Disorders

Researchers are now discovering that eating disorders can be attributed to heredity much like psychiatric disorders.  In a recent article, Eating Disorders Partially Due to Genetics, Dr. Ken Weiner discusses how genes that predispose someone to anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorders can actually also predispose someone to an eating disorder such as bulimia nervosa or anorexia.

Dr. Weiner also states that if a relative suffers from anorexia, you are 12 times more likely to suffer as well.  Interestingly enough, you are only four times more likely to inherit bulimia nervosa.

Eating Disorder or Combined Condition

With these findings, you have to think about whether or not people inherit the eating disorder or inherit the psychiatric illness that makes them have an eating disorder.

Since the family genes that contribute to anxiety, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder also may be connected to eating disorders, it makes you wonder if these are the underlying disorders and the eating disorder is a symptom.  For example, a person suffers from depression and with this comes feelings of hopelessness, unworthiness, low self-esteem, lack of confidence and control over his/her life.  To take back that control, the person decides not to eat or has no appetite to eat because of the symptoms of depression.  Due to the severity of the weight loss, professionals are quick to conclude the person has an eating disorder and may mention depression but not view it as the main disorder.

Eating Disorder Spirals Into Other Disorders

It’s really no wonder why these family genes for these psychiatric disorders also seem to contribute to eating disorders.  It’s very possible that eating disorders can set off other psychiatric disorders that in turn, reinforce the eating disorder.  For example, let’s take the depressed person.  He/She starts to see how thin he/she is getting and people remark how great he/she looks.  For the first time in a long time, the person may start to feel a bit better about things.  This spirals into an obsessive-compulsive disorder associated with food and exercise.  Anxiety also takes over because of the fear that he/she may gain back the weight.  All three of these conditions (the anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and the eating disorder) are fueling one another.

How this Helps You

What does this mean?  If one of your relatives suffers from depression, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive disorder, it’s useful for you to keep an eye out for an eating disorder in yourself and your children, not just those disorders.  It’s also important to consider that if you or your children do suffer from anorexia that you may be suffering from an underlying disorder that can be treated, which will ultimately treat the eating disorder.

Photo Credit: bejealousofme on Flickr

June 3rd, 2009 by Marcelina Hardy | Posted in Genetics and Health | (1)