title: The need to revise the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa.
abstract: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a complex disorder of unclear etiology. We argue that the current DSM-IV criteria do not adequately describe the cardinal symptoms of this "eating disorder". Our reasoning is based on the lack of empirical evidence supporting the terminology of some of the criteria, which underlie the core of our current conceptualisation of AN. We propose alternative criteria which allow a better integration of biologically derived hypotheses addressing the nosology and the symptomatology of AN.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Group, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Philipps University, Marburg, Germany. Johannes.Hebebrand@med.uni-marburg.de
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hebebrand
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Casper
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Treasure
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schweiger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male