Medical Findings in Women with Anorexia Nervosa in a Korean Population

Abstract

ObjectiveEating disorders are a common clinical problem among young women in Asian countries. The aim of this study is to determine the medical effects of anorexia nervosa (AN) in the Korean population.MethodsWe comprehensively investigated medical complications including haemodynamic, haematologic, endocrine, and bone density abnormalities in 67 Korean women with AN, together with 194 healthy Korean women of comparable age with a cross-sectional design.ResultsIn AN, 36.9% were anaemic, 50.8% were leukopenic, 35.5% were hypoproteinemic, 7.9% were hypokalemic, 9.5% had increased alanine aminotransferase, 6.3% were hyperbilirubinemia, 14.5% were hypercholesterolemia, 14.8% had decreased triiodothyronine. Osteopenia at any one site was identified in 43.3% and an additional 13.4% had osteoporosis. The lowest-ever body mass index was the main determinant of bone mineral density.ConclusionOur data in Korean patients with AN show high frequencies of laboratory abnormalities for medical complications. This study emphasizes the importance of recognizing AN as a medical risk in young Korean women.

Risk factors for disordered weight control behaviors among Korean adolescents: Multilevel analysis of the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey

“…Our analysis found overall 6.2% of prevalence of DWCB among Korean adolescents (9.0% of girls and 3.7% of boys), consistent with a previous study (Lee et al, ), showing that the ratios of the prevalence of DWCB between Korean and U.S. adolescents (i.e., 16.7% among 9th–12th graders from the YRBSS) ranged 1:2.4 to 1:2.7. This aligns with findings from recent studies showing comparable prevalence of disordered eating behaviors (DEB), defined by the Korean translated EAT‐26 scores of 20 or above, among Korean adolescents (14.8% in girls and 10.5% in boys) to that among U.S. adolescents (14.4% in girls and 3.8% in boys) (Lee et al, ), greater level of body dissatisfaction among Korean young women than U.S. young women (Jung & Forbes, ), and substantial number of ED cases among Korean women (Kim et al, ). Moreover, our study adds to the current literature by documenting the prevalence of one‐food diet in Korean youth (overall 2.7%, girls 4.0%, boys 1.5%), which may be a Korea‐specific DWCB.…”

“…However, the lifetime prevalence of clinical ED among Korean adults (0.0% and 0.1%, respectively, for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa) (Choi, Lee, Cho, Park, & Gim, ) is thought to be much lower than those among U.S. adults (0.6% and 1.0%, respectively, for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa) (Hudson, Hiripi, Pope, & Kessler, ), with the ratio of 1:10 for bulimia nervosa. Nonetheless, the low prevalence of ED in Korean epidemiological studies contrasts with data from clinical samples describing prevalent ED cases in Korean women (Kim, Son, Nah, & Park, ; Thomas et al, ). Furthermore, with respect to DWCB among adolescents, the gap in the prevalence between the two countries becomes much smaller.…”

Resting-state synchrony between anterior cingulate cortex and precuneus relates to body shape concern in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa

“…All participants were instructed to abstain from eating for 6 h; however, the time of fasting might have been longer in the AN group. Subjective hunger and subclinical medical complications associated with dietary restraint might have been confounding factors during the study (Kim et al, 2013). In addition, the brain patterns should have been influenced by confounding factors associated with brain structural changes (i.e., atrophy) that accompany eating disorders (Amianto et al, 2013;Gaudio et al, 2011).…”

Apolipoproteins C-II and C-III as nutritional markers unaffected by inflammation

“…For example, patients with anorexia nervosa often exhibit hypercholesterolemia [31][32][33]. Anorexia nervosa patients have very low serum albumin concentrations [34], indicative of severe malnourishment. Patients with anorexia nervosa were excluded from our study.…”