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A Tribute to Lasègue's Description of Anorexia Nervosa (1873), with Completion of its English Translation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Walter Vandereycken  and
Ron Van Deth
Walter Vandereycken*
Affiliation:
University Psychiatric Centre, Leuvensesteenweg 517, B-3070 Kortenberg, Belgium
Ron Van Deth
Affiliation:
University of Leiden, the Netherlands
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

Gull and Lasègue are usually credited with the first description of anorexia nervosa. In general, however, the work of the French neuropsychiatrist has been underestimated, and English-speaking colleagues who refer to Lasègue's writing on ‘hysterical anorexia’ almost exclusively rely on the translation of his French paper, which in 1873 appeared in a British medical journal, the same year as the original publication. However, some important passages had been omitted from the translation, and this has not previously been noted.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 157 , Issue 6 , December 1990 , pp. 902 - 908
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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