Eating disorders can take a serious toll on the body, prompting experts to call for overlooked long-term consequences to be addressed by healthcare services.
A large study led by a team from the University of Manchester traced the short- and long-term outcomes for eating disorder (ED) patients in the UK, revealing that even 5 to 10 years after diagnosis, ED patients are at increased risk of death, as well as kidney failure, liver disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and psychiatric disorders like personality disorder and depression.
"Eating disorders affect millions of individuals worldwide, yet their consequences are under-recognized," eating disorder researchers Ethan Nella and Jennifer Couturier, both from McMaster University in Canada, and who were not involved in the study, write in an accompanying editorial.
"Multiple organ systems are affected by eating disorders, which then requires an integration of care to adequately treat patients."
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Across the 24,709 ED patients whose electronic health records were analyzed, 14.5 percent had been newly diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, 20.6 percent with bulimia, and 4.9 percent with binge eating disorder. The remainder had either an unspecified eating disorder or one that did not fall into the above categories. Eighty-nine percent of all patients were women, and two-thirds of patients were aged between 10 and 24 years.
Records of 493,001 patients without an ED diagnosis (but otherwise demographically matched) were selected for comparison.
Within the first year after diagnosis, the risk of dying from any cause was more than four times higher among ED patients. Deaths from unnatural causes (such as by suicide, drug overdose, accident, or homicide) were five times more likely than in the non-ED population.
Beyond the five-year mark, ED patients continued to experience a higher mortality rate than other patients, equating to 43 more deaths from any cause per 10,000 individuals, and 184 more unnatural deaths per 100,000 individuals.
Even more concerning, at 10 years, these numbers jumped further, equating to 95 excess deaths per 10,000 individuals, and 341 unnatural deaths per 100,000 individuals.
ED patients were at nearly 14 times greater risk of death by suicide in the first year, but even after 10 years, their risk was still three times greater than others.
In their first year after diagnosis, ED patients were also six times more likely to develop kidney failure and nearly seven times more prone to liver disease. And even after ten years, these risks were still elevated well above the non-ED population.
"Raising awareness among healthcare providers about the lasting effects of eating disorders and the need for ongoing support in managing current symptoms and recovery is essential," the researchers conclude.
The research and accompanying editorial were published in BMJ Medicine.
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