Research Points To Genetic Factor In Eating Disorders

by Matt C
(london)

June 9, 2010.
Researchers at Michigan State University have identified a type of estrogen called estradiol that they believe may play a role in the development of eating disorders during puberty.

The study, which has been published in the journal ‘Psychological Medicine’, found that symptoms of eating disorders were much greater in pubertal girls with higher levels of estradiol than in pubertal girls with lower levels of estradiol.

Kelly Klump, an associate professor of psychology at Michigan State University, said that previous research had shown how eating disorders are often influenced by both environmental and genetic factors once a girl reaches puberty. But the underlying effects of the genes were unknown.

Klump says “The reason we see an increase in genetic influences during puberty is that the genes for disordered eating are essentially getting switched on during that time. This research was trying to figure out why. What's turning on the genes during puberty? And what we found is that increases in estradiol apparently are activating genetic risk for eating disorders."

Estradiol influences the growth of the reproductive organs, bones and other bodily systems, and is the predominant form of estrogen in females.

Klump said that researchers don't yet know which genes are being switched on by estradiol and recognised that further research and larger studies are needed to confirm their results.
However, Professor Klump (who is a past president of the Academy of Eating Disorders) said that by knowing that estradiol is likely to play a role in the development of eating disorders could ultimately lead to new treatments being developed and prevention efforts could be geared toward those girls who not only are in high-risk environmental contexts (such as weight-focused sports), but also those with genetic risks such as a family history of eating disorders.

The study, which Kelly Klump co-authored with S. Alexandra Burt, Cheryl Sisk at MSU and Pamela Keel at Florida State University, examined the estradiol levels of nearly 200 sets of female twins, ages 10-15, from the Michigan State University Twin Registry.

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com citing Andy Henion, Michigan State University