Anorexia is not a purely psychological illness

In all mental disorders, the mortality rate of anorexia is the highest. However, the etiology and treatment of this disease are poorly understood. Now scientists believe that we may have been in wrong direction.

British researchers said that anorexia may derive from bacterial infection rather than just a purely psychological illness - perhaps psychological reasons are important, but they are not convincing as a primary or underlying cause of the disease. In addition, chronic fatigue and irritable bowel syndrome may also have the same causes. So far, this is just a hypothesis to be tested. But once the hypothesis can be verified, it will be able to bring new treatments for anorexia, providing new hope for patients with anorexia, irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue.

The researchers believe that the bacterial infection, the patient's immune system to secrete antibodies against. But then, these antibodies become confused and start attacking its own nerve cells. This "autoimmune attack" could explain the symptoms that occur in patients with the three diseases, can also explain the huge difference in the incidence of sex - we all know that women are more prone to autoimmune diseases, and the incidence of the three diseases in women rate is 10 times that of men. Therefore, nerve cell autoantibodies may be part of the cause of these diseases.

Bacterial hypothesis could also explain some special anorexia symptoms, and many people will associate it with the influence of fashion and model for young girls. The role of autoantibodies in the limbic system of the brain may lead to extreme emotions, including fear and nausea. These adolescent girls will be emotional and socio-cultural standard ideal body type linked to food and obesity lead to further nausea and fear.

If anorexia is really from a bacterial infection, then it means it might be infectious. However, researchers believe that social factors may still have an impact on whether people sick. For example, childhood suffered physical and sexual abuse may be more likely after the bacterial infection prevalence. Social factors can affect the disease symptoms, but it is not the only causes.

Today, researchers are testing their hypothesis on laboratory animals and trying to identify the specific bacterial species that confuse the immune system. If they can isolate the culprit, then it is possible to restore the normal balance of bacteria - by transfusing healthy blood to eliminate bacteria that induce autoantibodies and the autoantibodies.

Read more: http://www.cusabio.com/ELISA-Kit/Human-anti-caudate-nucleus-CN-autoantibody-ELISA-kit-1080385.html