Eating Disorders

WEDNESDAY, June 2 — Patients suffering from the eating disorder anorexia nervosa can actually lose brain volume, but new research suggests that, with special treatment, adult patients can regain the gray matter that they lost from relentless dieting. "Anorexia nervosa wreaks havoc on many different parts of the body, including the brain," study author Christina Roberto, of Yale University, said in a news release. "In our study, we measured brain volume deficits among underweight patients with the illness to evaluate if the decline is reversible through short-term weight restoration." Working out of the Columbia University Center for Eating Disorders in New York City, Roberto and her colleagues conducted MRI scans of the brains of 32 adult female inpatients diagnosed…

MONDAY, Oct. 4 — Family-based treatment for anorexic teenagers may be more effective in the long-term than individual counseling, a new study finds. "Family therapy has been part of the landscape for the treatment of anorexia nervosa for maybe 40 years, but this specific form has been evolving as a likely effective treatment for the last 10," said Dr. James Lock, lead author of a study in the October issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. "But this is the first study to actually compare this treatment to an active treatment." Anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder most common among teenage girls, can stunt growth, delay puberty and reduce peak bone mass. Almost 6 percent of anorexics die from heart failure or suicide each decade, the authors write. …

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 20 — People with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa may be at risk for potentially serious eye damage, says a small new study from Greece. This damage can occur in the macula, which is located near the center of the retina at the back of the eye and is responsible for fine detailed central vision and the processing of light. In this study, researchers at the University of Athens compared the thickness of the macula and its electrical activity in the eyes of 13 women who'd had anorexia nervosa for an average of 10 years and 20 healthy women without anorexia who served as controls. The average age of the women was 28. When compared to the healthy women, those with anorexia nervosa had no obvious visual problems and their …

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 3 — Women with anorexia nervosa are much more likely to have unplanned pregnancies and abortions than women without the eating disorder, a study of Norwegian women has found. This may be due to the mistaken belief that women with anorexia can't get pregnant because they have irregular menstrual periods or no periods at all, said study lead author Cynthia M. Bulik, director of the eating disorders program at the University of North Carolina (UNC). "Anorexia is not a good contraceptive. Just because you're not menstruating, or because you're menstruating irregularly, doesn't mean you're not at risk for becoming pregnant," she said in a UNC news release. Bulik and colleagues analyzed data on 62,060 women included in the Norwegian Mother…

MONDAY, Nov. 29 — Eating disorders have risen steadily in children and teens over the last few decades, with some of the sharpest increases occurring in boys and minority youths, according to a new report. In one startling statistic cited in the report, an analysis by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found that hospitalizations for eating disorders jumped by 119 percent between 1999 and 2006 for kids younger than 12. At the same time as severe cases of anorexia and bulimia have risen, so too have "partial-syndrome" eating disorders — young people who have some, but not all, of the symptoms of an eating disorder. Athletes, including gymnasts and wrestlers, and performers, including dancers and models, may be particularly at risk, according to the report. "We…

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 16 — The way women draw themselves may help reveal whether they have an eating disorder, researchers suggest. They found that women with anorexia or bulimia draw themselves with different characteristics than women without eating disorders. The study, by Israeli researchers, included 36 women with anorexia or bulimia and 40 women with no eating disorder, half of them overweight and half normal weight. The women were asked to draw themselves, and the researchers found various differences between the groups in four areas: Women with anorexia or bulimia tended to portray themselves with a larger neck, a disconnected neck or no neck. The mouth was more emphasized by women with anorexia or bulimia. Depictions of wider thighs were more common among participants with…

THURSDAY, April 28 — Margie Hodgin of Turnersville, N.C., was in her early forties when she developed anorexia nervosa, and she knows how isolating the condition can be. "In the middle of a disorder like that, you don't know how to explain your feelings to those around you," she said. Luckily, Hodgin sought the care of a therapist who suggested a new and often effective treatment: an intensive counseling program that also involved Hodgin's husband. She said the program, called Uniting Couples (in the treatment of) Anorexia Nervosa (UCAN), was probably more effective — both for her own recovery and her marriage — than other outpatient programs she had gone to alone because she and her husband could get "down and dirty" about what was …