Anorexia nervosa could have both metabolic and psychiatric origins

Anorexia nervosa could be a hybrid €˜metabo-psychiatric disorder’ according to a global study that could help to understand why some individuals with anorexia nervosa drop back to dangerously low weights, even after hospital-based refeeding. Published in Nature Genetics, the large-scale genome-wide association study led by researchers at King’s and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was undertaken by over 100 academics worldwide and identified eight genetic variants linked to anorexia nervosa. The results suggest that the genetic origins of the disorder are both metabolic and psychiatric. Anorexia nervosa is a serious and potentially life-threatening illness. Symptoms of anorexia can include a dangerously low body