A recent study conducted by researchers at the Duke Center for Human Genetics found that hair-pulling disorder also known as trichotillomania is caused by faulty genes in one's body. The team involved in the research stated that mutations of a certain gene called SLITKR1 may have a bad influence upon an individual's uncontrollable, involuntary and repetitive action of pulling his hair.


Medical experts categorize hair-pulling disorder as an impulse control disorder which may be associated with other akin disorders, such as Tourette syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, chronic tic disorder etc.


However, scientists who led the research also highlighted the fact that variations of the particular gene are not to blame for all hair-pulling disorder. Genetic mutations of the SLITKR1 account only for a small part of thricotillomania cases.


Researcher Stephan Züchner, M.D., who was involved in the research at the Duke Center for Human Genetics, explained that finding a gene to account even for a fraction of such impulse control disorders would help society understand that people who suffer from hair-pulling disorder, for instance, are not necessarily mentally ill. This could also help medical experts understanding better and developing new methods of treating impulse control disorders.


"Society still holds negative perceptions about psychiatric conditions such as trichotillomania. But, if we can show they have a genetic origin, we can improve diagnosis, develop new therapies, and reduce the stereotypes associated with mental illness," Züchner said.


The team also suggested that this is not the only case of mental illness to be caused by genetic mutations. They believe that other psychiatric conditions are triggered, too, by variations in one's genes. This holds further hopes for tracking down faulty genes involved in mental illnesses and, after understanding how they work in the human body, developing new medical methods to put an end to the misery of this type of disorders and diseases which affect a large number of population.


Allison Ashley-Koch, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Medical Genetics at Duke University and researcher in the study noted: "The SLITRK1 gene could be among many other genes that are likely to interact with each other and environmental factors to trigger trichotillomania and other psychiatric conditions."