Hand projections demonstrate how anorexia works!

**Martijn (admin)** on Sun Jul 25, 2010 12:30 am

Hand projections demonstrate how anorexia works!

Scientists at University College London asked people to put their left hands palm down under a board and judge the location of the covered hand’s knuckles and fingertips with a pointer. The results pointed out that people tend to think that their hands are wider and their fingers are shorter than they truly are.

The scientists suspect that these incorrect perceptions on people's own hands are induced by brain processes that are also responsible for likewise misperceptions in anorexia patients.

PS. Lynn, thanks for reporting this news item!

**Martijn (admin)** on Mon Jul 02, 2012 4:13 pm

Hand projections demonstrate how anorexia works! Mg21428695.200-1_300

... Scientists have now also mapped for the first time the 'phantom hand':
http://handfacts.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/new-scientist-reports-phantom-hand-mapped-for-the-first-time/

"... Understanding how the brain perceives the body could have broader implications. Longo says there are a few studies showing that people with eating disorders may inaccurately judge the size of their body from tactile feedback. Those results suggest there may be some relation between somatosensory representations of the body and our conscious feelings of what our body is like,” he says."

**Martijn (admin)** on Thu Feb 26, 2015 11:25 am

A (very small but appealing) anorexia-nervosa study from Israel (2011) focused on the dermatoglyphics and palmar crease:

Rare Patterns of Finger and Palm Prints in Anorexia Nervosa
http://www.iaed.org.il/wp/wp-content/uploads/7fl12swd.pdf

The study suggests that one can expect combinations with the following features involved:

PALM:
- axial triradius: missing (or shifted),
- dissociated proximal transverse crease/head line
- high frequency of secondary palmar creases

FINGERS:
- fingerprints: tented arch / peacock

NOTICE: Other studies have suggest:

- Russel's sign (see picture below: calluses on the back of the hand resulting from repeated self-induced vomiting over a long period):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell's_sign

- nail changes:
http://www.priory.com/psychiatry/Skin_signs_anorexia.htm

- (edited) a high 2d:4d digit ratio represents a typical feature in eating disorders in men and women (though in women the relationship might be more complex because there is also a study which suggests that low 2d:4d digit ratio can get associated with anorexia): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2768336/

(All reports together suggests that a multi-perspective hand reading approach is very likely necessary in order to understand the relationship between anorexia and the hand better)

Hand projections demonstrate how anorexia works! Russell's_Sign

Hand projections demonstrate how anorexia works! Russell's_Sign

Clochette2 on Sat Sep 12, 2015 5:34 pm

Interesting.
Could we say those are traits of anorexia people (such as insecurity for instance. Anorexia is definitely much complex)
Or that those traits show the person is anorexic?
Like one can with palm reading with personality? (I.e. The space between love and had lines )

**Martijn (admin)** on Sun Sep 13, 2015 12:11 pm

Clochette2 wrote:Interesting.
Could we say those are traits of anorexia people (such as insecurity for instance. Anorexia is definitely much complex)
Or that those traits show the person is anorexic?
Like one can with palm reading with personality? (I.e. The space between love and had lines )

Hello Clochette2,

Even though the listed signs (see my previous post above) bare a potential connection with anorexia, most of these signs do not produce high predictability regarding anorexia.

Among the listed signs only Russell's sign has a correlation with eating disorders (I have seen reports close to 30% for bulimia nervosa and 4-9% for anorexia nervosa); however, even Russell's sign is not always a reliable indicator of an eating disorder.

I hope this is helpful for you to understand things a bit more properely.

wave

Clochette2 on Sun Sep 13, 2015 1:17 pm

Thanks a lot for your precision.
Indeed anorexia is such a complex issue.
That's why I wondered if those signs could help to "see" those persons at risk.

I take for assumptions :
1)
For instance if one vomits more than necessary (as being sick after food poisoning ) , teeth should appear to be fragile organs due to the acid from digestive system. Teeth are protected from saliva acid, but I suppose not from digestive system acid.
2)
The Russel signs on back of the hands would have nerves related and connected to parts in body (similarly to theories in acupuncture but also simply biology and neuro psychology )

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Hand projections demonstrate how anorexia works!

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