Amy Winehouse Brother Blames Bulimia For Her Early Death Says 'It Left Her Weaker, More Susceptible' [Vid

Amy Winehouse's death was always believed to have been a result of her hard-partying ways, but her brother revealed in an interview with Observer Magazine that "what really killed her was Bulimia."

Winehouse died at the age of 27 in July of 2011. She won 5 Grammy's for her first album breakthrough, Back in Black.

An inquest of Winehouse's body revealed she had more than five times the legal drink-drive amount of alcohol in her system at the time of her death, so it was ruled a verdict of "misadventure," reports the Guardian.

Her brother, Alex Winehouse, was speaking before the opening of the of an exhibition dedicated to his sister's life at the Jewish Museum in Camden, north London.

According to Winehouse's brother, Amy's bodily system had been fatally weakened by years of bulimia, a disease in which bouts of extreme overeating result in depression and self-induced vomiting.

Said Alex Winehouse, "had she not have had an eating disorder, she would have been physically stronger."

Amy's brother also revealed that Amy developed bulimia in her late teens and had never shaken it off like the friends who also used to induce vomiting.

As a 17-year-old his sister and her group of friends "were all doing it. They'd put loads of rich sauces on their food, scarf it down and throw it up. They stopped doing it, but Amy never really stopped.

"We all knew she was doing it but it's almost impossible [to tackle], especially if you're not talking about it."

Beat, the world's largest eating disorder charity, says there's a lack of there is a lack of data detailing how many people in the UK suffer from an eating disorder.

The Department of Health provides hospital episode statistics, these include only those affected by eating disorders who are being treated as NHS inpatients.

As a result of that disconnect, the figures forget all those who have not come forward with their eating disorder, have not been diagnosed and are receiving private treatmen or being treated as an outpatient.

After Winehouse's death, Alex and his father, Mitch set up a foundation in her name to curb the misuse of drugs and alcohol by the younger generation. The Amy Winehouse Foundation is run by Alex and his father, Mitch, a former singer and black cab driver.

Amy Winehouse's brother, Alex, continued "We had to support eating disorder charities because no one talks about it. The situation in this country is that about five or six years ago there were around 10-15 eating disorder charities out there. Now there's only three, one of which is exclusively for young men.

"I just want to try to raise awareness of bulimia. It's a real dark, dark issue."

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