Study Suggests Season Of Birth May Play Etiological Role.(Brief Article)

2001 SEP 6 - (NewsRx Network) -- Anorexic women are most likely to have been born in the spring or early summer, reports a researcher in Scotland. The finding raises the possibility that a common winter infection, such as flu, may predispose an unborn baby to the condition.

The finding also is raising the question "So what?" in the minds of some.

"It's not the whole answer," says John Eagles of the Royal Cornhill Hospital in Aberdeen. But it could be an unrecognized cause of anorexia nervosa, which affects around 1% of girls in the U.S., notes an article in the August 8, 2001, issue of New Scientist.

Anorexic girls are preoccupied with dieting and being thin, often seeing themselves as fat despite being severely underweight. Their excessive weight loss can cause shrunken organs, loss of bone mineral and an irregular heartbeat. Around 10% of patients die of the disease, according to the American Anorexia Bulimia Association.

Anorexia is generally thought to be a psychological disorder triggered by a stressful family environment or a culture obsessed with slenderness. But new evidence points to a biological origin. Eagles' team studied the case notes of 446 Scottish women who had been diagnosed with anorexia or who had suffered the symptoms of the disorder between 1965 and 1997. They were compared with a group of 5766 controls born in the same region of Scotland in the years 1951, 1961, 1971, and 1981.

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