Eating disorders are medical diagnoses.
Because they have been shown to be genetic brain diseases, eating disorders can be considered medical diagnoses. These illnesses also lead to significant physiological changes requiring medical treatment. At minimum, the frequent medical complications of eating disorders should be treated as the medical problems that they are.
- Academy of Eating Disorders. Position Statement on Equity in Insurance Coverage for Eating Disorders. 1997.
- ".... psychological causes and societal pressures to be thin are not by themselves sufficient to explain the development and persistence of AN [anorexia nervosa] and BN [bulimia nervosa]. While all women in our society are exposed to such pressures, only a minority develop eating disorders. Eating disorders are associated with brain-related biological abnormalities…. Genetic factors are present in both AN and BN. These eating disorders run in families. Eating disorders are much more common in identical twins than in non-identical twins, suggesting that genetics plays a role."
- "Given the medical complications associated with AN [anorexia nervosa] in particular, in several instances the courts have ruled that the treatment of this disorder should be covered by medical insurance to the same extent as other severe medical illnesses. The courts have reasoned that medical coverage for treating the malnutrition resulting from AN [anorexia nervosa] is no different than the medical coverage for physical damage associated with other conditions such as alcoholism or for orthopedic injuries resulting from drunk driving or from failed attempts at suicide."
- Fisher M, Golden NH, Katzman DK, et al. Eating Disorders in Adolescents. J Adolescent Health. 1995; 16:420-437.
- "Although eating disorders are usually classified as psychiatric conditions, they are associated with significant medical complications, morbidity, and mortality."
- "Although eating disorders are usually classified as psychiatric conditions, they are associated with significant medical complications, morbidity, and mortality."
- Rome ES & Ammerman S. Medical Complications of Eating Disorders: An Update. J Adolescent Health. 203; 33:418-426.
(Up-to-date review of the medical complications of eating disorders. 87 references)- "The medical complications of eating disorders are significant and potentially irreversible and life threatening."
- "The medical complications of eating disorders are significant and potentially irreversible and life threatening."
- Thomas Insel, M.D., Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, October 2006
- "Anorexia Nervosa, among the most serious of mental disorders, can be deadly for young women who get caught up in the malignant cycle of weight loss and compulsive behaviors. The mortality rate for those with anorexia nervosa is estimated at 5% per decade. Research tells us that anorexia nervosa is a brain disease with severe metabolic effects on the entire body. While the symptoms are behavioral, this illness has a biological core with genetic components, changes in brain activity, and neural pathways currently under study. Most women with anorexia nervosa recover, usually following intensive psychological and medical care."
- "Anorexia Nervosa, among the most serious of mental disorders, can be deadly for young women who get caught up in the malignant cycle of weight loss and compulsive behaviors. The mortality rate for those with anorexia nervosa is estimated at 5% per decade. Research tells us that anorexia nervosa is a brain disease with severe metabolic effects on the entire body. While the symptoms are behavioral, this illness has a biological core with genetic components, changes in brain activity, and neural pathways currently under study. Most women with anorexia nervosa recover, usually following intensive psychological and medical care."