ABSTRACT
In the history of science, description of a phenomenon generally precedes elucidation of the underlying mechanism. Anorexia nervosa (AN) as a clinical phenomenon has been well described for at least three centuries (Morton, 1694). Bulimia nervosa (BN), although more recent in its formal recognition as a separate psychiatric syndrome, has also been thoroughly documented (Garfinkel, Moldofsky, & Garner, 1980; Russell, 1979). There is general agreement concerning the clinical description of these syndromes in regard to their diagnostic criteria, natural history, and their medical and social consequences.
