ABSTRACT
Anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) are two officially recognized eating disorders that affect about 3% of women over their lifetime.1,2 They may also occur in men, although in lower proportions (1 vs. 10-30 in women). Both illnesses usually make their debut at a young age, are characterized by hyperactivity, exaggerated concern about body shape and weight, and often occur in the same patients.3 AN is manifested by an aversion to food and amenorrhea with decrease in food intake often underlying life-threatening weight loss (restrictive type of AN), whereas BN includes large uncontrolled eating episodes normally without significant change in body weight. When BN is accompanied by AN, hyperphagia is followed by voluntary vomiting or use of laxatives (binge-purging type of AN) resulting in a malnourished condition and loss of weight. The mortality rate in AN is estimated around 2-10% over a period of 5-10 years for both males and females; suicide accounts for almost half of the deaths.4 Mortality in BN is considerably lower than in AN.5
