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Long‐term physical illness in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa
Author(s) -
Gerhardt Ann
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.1006.3
Subject(s) - anorexia nervosa , bulimia nervosa , eating disorders , medicine , psychiatry , disordered eating , physical illness , anorexia , not otherwise specified , family history , pediatrics , mental health
We sought to determine the types of long term, non‐psychiatric illness that occur in women currently practicing or with a history of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. From a 20‐year, internal medicine practice specializing in nutrition and eating disorders, we attempted to locate 488 eating disorder patients who had achieved age 30 years at the time of the study. Seventy‐nine women were found and 73 agreed to participate by completing a questionnaire, which asked 9 questions concerning current and past disordered weight control behavior, 30 questions about symptoms, medical conditions and presumptive diagnoses, and single questions about family medical history and medications. 44% were no longer practicing disordered eating. Prevalence of symptoms or diseases of the following systems: 60.3% musculoskeletal, 50.7% gastrointestinal (8.2% hepatic), 41.1% cardiovascular, including 22.5% with mitral valve prolapse, 34.2% respiratory, 27.4% hematologic, 26% reproductive, 17.8% dermatologic, 15.1% endocrine, 8.2% renal and 4.1% neurologic. Only 7 (9.6%) had no physical illness. There was no association of eating disorder diagnosis with frequency of physical illness. Conclusion Long term physical symptoms and illness are common in eating disorder patients, even after eating disorder recovery. Support from Sutter Community Hospitals Institute for Medical Research