Anorexia Nervosa (AN) will affect 1% of people at some point in their life, however this rate is higher for people who participate in sports or activities where having a lower body weight might be helpful. (e.g., wrestling, dancing, running, etc.). AN tends to start affecting someone sometime between the ages of 15 and 18.
Only half of people with AN will fully recover, while 20% experience a chronic course.
AN is the most deadly eating disorder with a mortality rate of 5-10%.
Signs of Anorexia Nervosa
- Heavy calorie restriction relative to requirements, leading to a significantly low body weight
- Significantly low weight means that a person’s weight is lower than normal for someone based on their height or, for children and adolescents, lower than what is expected for someone their age and height
- Intense fear of gaining weight or “becoming fat”
- Increased sensitivity and distress to what they see in the mirror or on the scale
Physical Consequences
- Thinning bones; osteoporosis
- Brittle hair/bones
- Yellowish skin
- Lanugo: downy hair on face/limbs
- Impaired renal function
- Bradycardia, heart attacks
- Cardiac failure
References
- Hudson JI, Hiripi E, Pope HG Jr, Kessler RC. The prevalence and correlates of eating disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Biol Psychiatry. 2007 Feb 1;61(3):348-58. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.03.040. Epub 2006 Jul 3. Erratum in: Biol Psychiatry. 2012 Jul 15;72(2):164. PMID: 16815322; PMCID: PMC1892232.
- Steinhausen HC. The outcome of anorexia nervosa in the 20th century. Am J Psychiatry. 2002 Aug;159(8):1284-93. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.159.8.1284. PMID: 12153817.
- Micali N, Hagberg KW, Petersen I, Treasure JL. The incidence of eating disorders in the UK in 2000-2009: findings from the General Practice Research Database. BMJ Open. 2013 May 28;3(5):e002646. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2013-002646. PMID: 23793681; PMCID: PMC3657659.