Anorexia nervosa is 10 times more common in women than in men, however the causes that cause it are still a mystery.
Is it a disorder caused by the influence of external factors or is it a genetic disease? The new research points more to the latter, that a greater predisposition to suffer it could be found in the genes.
A study recently published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry suggests that the anorexia nervosa that some people suffer it could be due to exposure during pregnancy to a female sex hormone present in the womb.
The intention of the research team of the universities of Sussex (United Kingdom) and Waterloo (Canada) was to determine how pregnancy hormones influence the development of anorexia nervosa in a female and male baby when she reached adolescence and adulthood.
For this, the cases of twins of the same sex and the opposite sex were analyzed, since it is assumed that both were exposed to the same hormones within their mother's womb.
The results showed that in the cases of twins of the same sex there was a higher percentage of anorexic twins than males, while in cases of twins of opposite sexes the males ended up developing the same disease as their sisters.
What makes the researchers think that "in pregnancies that carry a female fetus a substance, probably hormonal, is generated that increases the risk of having anorexia nervosa in adulthood."
If it was found that the influence of the hormones to which a baby is subjected when pregnant is related to the origin of anorexia could be a principle to develop drugs for treatment. That is good news and we will be attentive to new developments.
In any case, it does not mean that stereotypes based on a sickly cult of thinness are not the culprits, they are ultimately the trigger for this tremendous disease that is not given the importance it deserves.
