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WHAT WE FUND
Eating disorders
Mental health
This project will explore if specific changes in metabolic function, appetite and growth factors lead to the onset of eating disorders.
There is a lack of understanding of why eating disorders develop, which affects the ability to develop good treatments and adequately prevent eating disorders.
Dr Nadia Micali from UCL has been awarded a Medical Research Foundation-MRC funded research grant in order to investigate the role that metabolism and growth play in the development of eating disorders. The project will explore if specific changes in metabolic function, appetite and growth factors lead to the onset of eating disorders. She also aims to explore whether these factors might be related to individuals’ genetic makeup, using novel methodologies and based on novel genetic findings.
We hope that by identifying risk factors for adolescent and young adult eating disorders, Dr Micali will be in a strong position to undertake larger and more detailed studies in future that will lead to better prevention and treatment.
Mental Health – Eating Disorders
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Why there is a need to fund new research
Eating disorders are life-threatening mental illnesses that can start in adolescence and affect 15 per cent of young women and up to four per cent of young men. The number of people being diagnosed and entering in-patient treatment for eating disorders in England alone has increased at an average rate of 7% per annum since 2009. Eating disorders are complex and we are yet to understand why someone develops one or how best to treat them. A whole range of different factors influence the development of eating disorders including genetics, psychological, environmental, social and biological factors. We need a better understanding of the causes of eating disorders and jointly with the Medical Research Council we have funded research to develop this understanding.
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