Eating Disorder May Trigger Development of Osteoporosis?

According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), there are

currently 10 million females and 1 million males who are waging life and death

battle with an eating disorder.

People with eating disordering will miss a lot of nutrients needed for our body to

function well, making them at risk of developing osteoporosis which is a disease

that thins and weakens the bones to the point that they become fragile and break

easily.

Men and women with osteoporosis most often break bones in the hip, spine, and

wrist, but any bone can be affected.

In the United States, there are more than 40 million people either already have

osteoporosis or are at high risk due to low bone mass, placing them at risk for more

serious bone loss and fracture.

One of the reasons why there are people tend develop eating disorder is because of

body image issues which often precede the onset of eating disorder. The National

Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) made available information regarding eating

disorders. One type is termed as anorexia nervosa.

The person with anorexia nervosa would limit food type and intake according to

calorie value. This person would see himself as chronically overweight and would

rigorously keep a schedule of weigh-ins on a scale to note the “success” of

controlled eating.

Untreated anorexia nervosa leads to death caused by cardiac arrest (electrolyte and

fluid imbalances) and suicide. It is usually the result of depression, anxiety,

obsessive behavior, and substance abuse and may coexist with cardiovascular and

neurological complications and impaired physical development.

The sad thing about this disorder is that, it is not noticeable by visual observation.

Physical effects of this eating disorder may only be seen during medical testing. A

second type of eating disorder is called bulimia nervosa. The disorder is

characterized by bingeing and purging.

Accompanying bulimia, is usually depression, anxiety and/or substance abuse

problems, and feelings of disgust and shame, thus the activities are done in secret.

The third type of eating disorder is eating disordered not otherwise specified .

Their Symptoms and distress don’t reach the level associated with full-blow eating

disorders but could progress if they are allowed to travel through the stages that

mark the prepathology period .They are usually referred to as preadolescents and

adolescents at the brink , often clinically referred to as having “subclinical”

disturbance.

Educational advancement of the student is affected due to eating disorder as it may

create a negative impact. This issue is rarely addressed in the schools nationwide.

The following increases the risk of developing eating disorder such as criticism,

teasing, and bullying focused on food, weight and shape issues. In addition, food

related and a weight related harmful experience also increases the risk of

developing an eating disorder.

If this continuous, the risk of a person of developing osteoporosis is high which

usually end up with an injury such as on the hips that causes unbearable pain and

pushes a person to undergo a hip replacement such as of those recalled DePuy

ASR hip implants wherein it is currently facing about 8,000 lawsuits after being

reported as defective.

About the Author

Caren is currently working as a legal medicine researcher which focuses on hip

replacements surgery cases. One of the major topics that she is working on is

about how patients can be compensated after suffering from defective hip implants.

People nowadays relay on hip replacements due to unbearable pain caused by hip

injury after developing the weakening of the bones due to osteoporosis.