Anorexianervosais a commonanddangerousillnessthataffectsmillionsofpeople.
For a longtime, it's beenthoughtofprimarilyas a psychiatricdisorder, butnewresearchpublishedthisweekinthejournal "NatureGenetics" suggeststhere's animportantphysiologicalaspectaswell.
Therearewell-knowngeneticriskfactorsthatareassociatedwith a patient's likelihoodofdevelopingAlzheimer's.
Butthisnewstudyfoundthatdementiacanalsobeinfluencedbyhowhealthy a person's lifestyleis.
Likethefirststudy, thisonelookedat a widesampleofgeneticdata, thistimefromnearly 200,000 peopleintheUK, includingmorethan 1,700 recordedcasesofdementia.
Theresearchersassembled a geneticriskscoreforeachperson, butalso a lifestylehealthscorebasedoneachperson's self-reporteddiet, levelofphysicalactivity, andfrequencyofsmokingordrinkingalcohol.
Theyfoundthat, evenamongpeoplewith a highgeneticrisk, theincidenceofdementiawassignificantlylowerinpeoplewith a healthierlifestyleversuspeoplelivinglesshealthy.
Thedifferencewassmallbutnoteworthy.
Ofthestudyparticipantswithhighgeneticriskofdementia, thediseasedevelopedin 1.78% ofthosewithunhealthyhabits, butonly 1.13% ofthosewith a healthierlifestyle.