Anorexia nervosa

Background

  • Associated with body image disturbance
  • Usually seen in adolescent girls
    • 3rd most common chronic condition in adolescent girls
    • Life long risk
  • Body image is predominate measure of self worth
  • Mortality 6-20%, highest of any psychiatric disorder

Clinical Features

Patient with anorexia nervosa.

Diagnostic Criteria

  1. Restriction of energy intake relative to requirements, leading to a significantly low body weight in the context of age, sex, developmental trajectory, and physical health. Significantly low weight is defined as a weight that is less than minimally normal or, for children and adolescents, less than that minimally expected. [1]
  2. Intense fear of gaining weight or of becoming fat, or persistent behavior that interferes with weight gain, even though at a significantly low weight.
  3. Disturbance in the way in which one’s body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self-evaluation, or persistent lack of recognition of the seriousness of the current low body weight.

Symptoms

Signs

  • Fine facial and body hair (lanugo)
  • Brittle hair and nails
  • Dry, scaly skin
  • Loss of subcutaneous fat
  • Breast and vaginal atrophy

Associated conditions

Differential Diagnosis

Evaluation

Management

Disposition

Also See

References

  1. American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
  2. John F. Bober, Scott E. Moser: Rakel: Textbook of Family Medicine, 8th ed., Saunders, 2011 (Ch)24: p452
  3. https://pedemmorsels.com/eating-disorders/