Experts are now seeing younger and younger children with eating disorders such as anorexia. There has recently been lots of media attention on “size zero” models, and the government has even attacked fashion for undermining the confidence of girls. But is fashion really the cause? An article written on the BBC explores the thoughts of young girls suffering with anorexia.

One young girl, Natasha, believes models and fashion have nothing to do with why she stopped eating, and it is her own personal view of herself that is important to her. Natasha was admitted to Rhodes Farm Clinic after her weight fell to less than four and a half stone. Since Rhodes Farm clinic opened 16 years ago it has seen the average age of clients drop, and now even treats those as young as eight.

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Researchers have found a gene that seems to be important in late-onset Alzheimer’s. An article in The Independent states that the discovery was described as “exciting” by the Alzheimer’s Society. The hope is that the discovery about the genetic causes could now lead to a new treatment.

Richard Mayeux who led the research said “The importance of the finding is that it opens new pathways to explore the cause as well as potential targets for treatment.”

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Research has found that women binge drinkers were more likely to be clinically depressed than men binge drinkers. It is not yet clear whether drinking leads to depression or depression leads to drinking, however the link between the two is significant.

The research was conducted on 6,009 men and 8,054 women by US and Canadian researchers. Moderate drinking was found not to increase the risk of depression in either sex and the difference between men and women was only noticed in those suffering from clinical depression.

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