of eating disorders in their families have a risk of developing anorexia or bulimia that is 11 times higher than a woman who doesn’t (Genetics of a Eating Disorder). According to a recent study that was conducted anywhere from 50 to 90% of the risk of developing anorexia is said to be genetic, and as for bulimia genetics is the cause of about 35% to 83% of the cases (Genetics of a Eating Disorders). While eating disorders claim lives and significantly impact the health of many people, an amazing 80% of women, especially women in college, are dissatisfied with their appearance (Healthy Weight Journal, 1998). Even though it seems it has been just recently that eating disorders have gotten a lot of publicity and media attention they are not a new fad or diet method that teens are turning too. Anorexia has its roots as far back as the 13th century(Kuehnel, 2000). Back then what we now consider an eating disorder was then only an important part of their religious practices and beliefs. Women honored their saints by actually fasting. Back then, these women were often referred to as "holy anorexics."(Kuehnel, 2000). Researchers suspect that eating disorders probably occurred in other societies for different reasons than in our own.Doctors and researchers knew of anorexia long before they knew of or even acknowledged Bulimia. In the 1870 anorexia started to get a lot of publicity as a result from Sir Williams Gull. In his time many people thought that purposefully starving ones self was linked to other diseases like Diabetes or Tuberculosis (History of Eating Disorders, 2000). It was also Gall who brought it to the publics’ attention that self starving was its own separate illness and he was also responsible for giving this disease its name anorexia, which means nervous loss of appetite(History of Eating Disorders,2000). Even though Gull had brought the awareness of anorexia to the attention of the people of his time not a ...
