Health Update: New view on anorexia

ALLOWING anorexic girls to view their shrinking wombs and ovaries on ultrasound can be a powerful incentive for them to gain weight, say doctors at the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London. A group of 26 anorexic teenagers who had never menstruated normally were shown how their womb and ovaries regressed and then recovered as they ate more; after a year, the doctors report in Mims, half the girls were having normal periods.

Research from the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, meanwhile, indicates that even a brief period of anorexia can result in serious bone loss. A study reported in General Practitioner has found that young women with a history of just nine months of anorexia can end up with the bones of a 70-year-old four years later. The bone loss appears to be caused by both oestrogen deficiency and an excess of naturally produced steroids.