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Men Also Suffer From Eating Disorders--Often With More Severe Consequences
New research done by doctors at the University
of Iowa and headed by psychiatrist Dr. Arnold Anderson shows that men
with eating disorders had significantly lower bone density than women
suffering with the same condition. Severe weight loss and a deficiency
in essential nutrients, particularly calcium, can cause a serious decline
in bone mineral density (BMD) leading to the brittle bone disease osteoporosis.
Anderson and his team assessed the BMD of 380 people (14% of whom were men) who
had been admitted to the eating disorder clinic at the University of Iowa between
1991 and 1998. Three types of eating disorders were studied: anorexia nervosa,
binge/purge anorexia nervosa, and bulimia nervosa.
While all patients with these disorders showed BMD deficiencies, the researchers
found that men, particularly those suffering from the binge and purge bulimia,
had markedly lower bone density. The researchers suspect the serious drop in
BMD for men is related to the male hormone testosterone, which is predictably
lower in men suffering from eating disorders.
As the researchers explained, "Many patients are involved in contact sports or
high-impact activities and need to be advised about appropriate exercise limitations
until improvement in BMD is shown, to prevent fractures. On the other hand, moderate
weight-bearing exercise without high impact aids in bone accretion, in addition
to calcium and vitamin D intake."
The British Medical association recently blamed the media's obsession with super-thin
models--men and women--for the proliferation in young people having eating disorders.
In a hard-hitting report it urged magazines, advertising agencies, and fashion
designers to set a better example by using more "averaged-sized" models so that
young people would be shown a more realistic, healthy body image. |
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