Anorexia is on chromosome 12
Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.
More posts by Christiane Fux All content is checked by medical journalists.Genes have a major influence on whether a person becomes anorexic. In addition to the experiences that he has in his life, it is his genetic makeup that also determines how mentally stable he is. Now the genetic master switch for the eating disorder has been found. It is on chromosome number 12.
It has long been known that anorexia is also determined by a person's genetic makeup - and it applies to most mental illnesses.If one identical twin suffers from anorexia, the probability that the disease will affect the other is 50 percent. But where exactly in the thicket of genetic material are problematic genetic variants has so far been unclear.
The same gene is also involved in other diseases - psychological ones like schizophrenia and neuroticism, but also physiological ones, including autoimmune diseases like type 1 diabetes mellitus. And it apparently affects how the body metabolizes sugar.
New understanding, new therapeutic approaches
"A psychiatric disorder with a physiological background opens up new and previously completely unexpected therapy options," says Anke Hinney from the University of Duisburg-Essen, who supervised the study on the German side. "This discovery could change the understanding of anorexia nervosa forever."
So far, anorexia has been treated almost exclusively with the help of psychotherapeutic methods. But an approach that also targets the physical causes could provide another building block in this serious, often fatal mental illness.
Relief for those affected
Even if sociological and psychological circumstances should always play a role in anorexia nervosa: Disclosing the genetic causes could relieve patients and relatives.
The study was initiated by the University of North Carolina, where medical centers in the USA, Sweden, Great Britain, Austria and Germany analyzed the genetic material of 3,495 patents with anorexia. They compared the data with a control group of 11,000 people.
Anorexia nervosa has many triggers
The strong influence of the genes does not mean that the mental illness has to break out: it only becomes maniacal when emotional stress is added. This could be, for example, a separation of the parents or traumatic experiences such as sexual abuse. But that is by no means always the case.
People with anorexia are usually very ambitious and controlled, but at the same time often not very self-confident. Overcoming physical needs is seen as a sense of achievement - and as an opportunity to feel strong and independent. In addition, the physical self-perception is usually disturbed: Although the patients are already very emaciated, some still feel too fat.
Anorexia nervosa mainly affects young women and much less often men. According to the representative study on adult health in Germany (DEGS1), 1.1 percent of women and 0.3% of men suffer from anorexia.
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