ABSTRACT
Although English language references to anorexia nervosa can be found in 17th-century medical writings, the disorder was first described in detail in 1873, by Sir William Gull in England, and Dr Lasegue in France. Their two independent publications described a condition (named “anorexia nervosa” by Gull) whereby young females were apparently anorexic in the absence of any observable organic illness. These individuals typically became hyperactive, were preoccupied with their bodies being thin, and would refuse food, even though severe emaciation and amenorrhoea (cessation of menstruation) were often consequences of their actions. Both Gull and Laseque stressed the fact that they considered anorexia to be a psychological rather than a physical disease.
