The Biology of Anorexia Nervosa-Based on Treasure's Model

신경성 식욕부진증의 생물학-Treasure의 모델에 근거하여

Anorexia nervosa is a physical and psychosocial disorder that occurs most frequently in adolescent girls and young adult women. A decade ago, anorexia nervosa was rare outside of the developed western countries. However, it is now becoming a common clinical problem among young women in Korea. It is not enough to merely focus on relieving patients from the symptoms of "not eating," which is a practice that has been adopted by some forms of hospital care. The evidence base to guide treatment is limited. Nevertheless, there is the hope that a better understanding of the factors that play a role in the initiation and maintenance of disordered eating behaviors may be lead to more sophisticated treatments. This review aims to look beyond the overt "not eating" phenotype of anorexia nervosa and considers eating disorder endophenotypes based on Treasure's model. The first part of the review sets the basis for a framework of potential eating disorder endophenotypes. A description of the evidence of disordered eating behaviors as well as the clinical and psychopathological features associated with the central control of appetite follow. Finally, we describe how endophenotypes can be translated into treatments.