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In theory, science is supposed to be for everybody. In practice, it is often misused for unscientific, self-serving
purposes, to maximize profit or to justify unfair regulations. One purpose of this site is to organize
resources for a science that is reliable and that does not ignore conflicts of interest or feelings.
Large corporations,
governments, and political parties fund most of the research
that is done. Mainstream scientists are posing questions and producing findings
which serve the interests of these powerful bodies.
The
Truth about
the Drug Companies.
Mainstream scientists that do research on eating disorders
have been funded by drug companies and treating eating
disordered patients with the drugs that these companies produced in exchange. They have developed
different psychiatric categories for eating disorders - Adipositas,
Anorexia Nervosa, and Bulimia Nervosa - and refined the diagnostic
criteria. A psychiatric diagnosis is based on the medical model
which assumes that the cause of a disorder is located within
the person that has the symptoms that are associated with it.
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Neptune Fountain,
Berlin
There is no scientific justification for the assumption that
the causes of eating disorder symptoms are internal. It is a
fundamental
attribution error which is used to justify the prescription
of drugs. The true causes of eating disorders are still unknown.
Researchers that have studied eating disorders have focused mainly
on individual consumption and food-related thoughts of girls
and women, overlooking the interactive context in which food
is eaten and the social organization of food-related practices.
The Minnesota Starvation Experiment
Ancel Keys
and his colleagues conducted an exceptional study during World War II and
published it in 1950. More than 100 men volunteered to participate. Those
that were able to were exempt from military service. 36 men - those with the highest
levels of physical and psychological health - were selected for this study. For
6 months, they were only allowed to eat half their normal intake.
For 3 months prior to this semi-starvation experiment and for
3 to 9 months afterwards, the researchers studied each man's
behaviors, personality, and eating patterns. Their findings show
that the symptoms that are thought to be typical of anorexia
and bulimia nervosa are actually symptoms of starvation. The
participants experienced dramatic physical, psychological, and
social changes that persisted after the experiment was over and
resembled those observed in individuals with eating disorders.
For us to get the science we need, independent research that
does not ignore or trivialize cultural and social variables must
continue.
Contact: berlin@art-for-science.com.
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