A new study has found that the eating disorder anorexia could be caused by a genetic mutation.

For years it has been seen as a disease caused by social pressures but the new research suggests there may in fact be an underlying genetic related cause.

A study of the DNA of more than 3,000 people found the eating disorder may be caused by mutations that interfere with the processing of cholesterol, disrupting mood and diet.

The findings, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, may lead to the development of certain drugs to treat the condition.

Anorexia sufferers starve themselves as they are convinced they are fat, and more than one in ten cases are deadly. Shocking statistics reveal that only 30 per cent of people with the disorder make a full recovery.

For this study, researchers analysed information from more than 1,200 anorexia patients and almost 2,000 healthy patients.

150 genes studied showed signs of a link; a very important finding was the gene EPHX2, which controls an enzyme that regulates the burning of cholesterol.

How cholesterol is processed

Professor Nicholas Schork, of The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, said: ‘When we saw that, we thought we might be onto something, because nobody else had reported this gene as having a pronounced role in anorexia.’

It is not yet clear how EPHX2 variants that cause an abnormal metabolism of cholesterol would help trigger or maintain anorexia. Professor Schork noted people with anorexia often have remarkably high cholesterol levels in their blood, despite being severely malnourished.

It has been suggested previously that people suffering from anorexia often feel happier when starving themselves and this could be linked to having a higher cholesterol level.

Professor Schork explained: ‘The hypothesis would be in some anorexics the normal metabolism of cholesterol is disrupted, which could influence their mood as well as their ability to survive despite severe caloric restriction.’