| Show Anorexia Genetics made me medo med medo met d do it t o I J Leslie Condor Contributing Writer er At the beginning of this semester Aaron Zundel wrote an article in essence about Americans being fat and lazy He said something to the ext extent nt of They needed to stop with the excuses already and getsoff geoff gets ge off of the couch Well what if not all of Americans were fat What if some actual actual- actual 1 actually ly were dying because they were too thin n Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder mostly in young women who starve themselves Bulimia nervosa is an eat eating ng disorder mostly in women in which one binge eats and then gets rid of the food by vomiting laxatives or diuretics Statistics state that about 1 percent of young females have anorexia Females diagnosed diagnosed diagnosed nosed with bulimia have a slightly higher percentage with 4 percent There is research being done right now to try to find a gene that would explain these eating disorders They have not found a gene yet Researchers have found a genetic linkage on the chromosome 1 Ok great whatever that means This new-found new research does not explain however if it is genetic then why are there more girls with this disease than ever before Why are there more celebrities celebrities celebrities ties that believe the clavicle look is in These celebrities are who we celebrate as thin setting a very unrealistic standard for forthe forthe forthe the next generation to try to reach And yet women get on TV and say it is okay tobe to tobe tobe be you Be grateful for the unique body that God has given you We label the messenger as fat and lazy We say the only reason she believes th thus this s absurdity is because she doesn't want to lose wei weight t tand and she needs to feel justified in her deci deci- sion Being a young woman who has struggled struggled struggled with bulimia for a number of years I Ican Ican Ican can tell you that I feel that it is all of the above I believe that just like family members of alcoholics have a greater chance of becoming alcoholics I believe that there is some weird wiring going on in the body and brain telling us that it is okay to starve yourself to be thin I also believe that the media has way too much power than we give them credit for If you are faced with the pressure of looking like Twiggy everyday of your life there is a part of you who will not feel that you are of worth unless you look the same I purged to gain control over a life that I felt was lacking it And to be blunt I 1 felt an odd sense of peace and accomplishment accomplishment accomplishment afterward followed by a lot of guilt I. I I was lucky to have friends and family that found out from the beginning and would not put up with it I still have problems problems problems lems with food I think about it more than normal people do I am always ques- ques Anorexia Cont on Page 8 Anorexia Cont from Page 5 tion ng how what goes in my mouth will affect my body for bad or good But I have not relapsed in over two years and am grateful for that I still have thoughts about it though When I Ido Ido Ido do have those thoughts I take a step back and think about what is going in my life to make me feel the only way to cope with it is by purging my food So what causes these life threatening threatening threatening threaten threaten- ing eating disorders Is it the gene or ora ora ora a number of genes that affect our mentality mentality mentality men men- Is it low self-esteem self and low worth self-worth Is it a way for girls to get attention Is this new-found new gene theory theory theory the the- ory just another example of how our society is plagued with pushing any form of human weakness onto something something something some some- thing we have no control over I dont don't know And the sad part is Neither does anyone else There are many theories With each theory there is another theory to discredit it I hope that this gene theory does pan out because then we will be able to treat this disease We will be able to help girls feel the sense of self that they should One can only dream |
