Dermatologic Signs in Patients with Eating Disorders

In 2005, Renata Strumia's paper highlighted the dermatologic signs associated with eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN), which are prevalent among adolescent females and young women and can lead to significant morbidity and mortality. The paper detailed the skin conditions resulting from behaviors like starvation, vomiting, and drug abuse, including xerosis, lanugo-like body hair, telogen effluvium, acne, and carotenoderma. Dermatologists were noted to play a crucial role in early detection of these disorders by recognizing these signs, which is vital for a better prognosis. Treatment of the skin conditions often requires re-nutrition and specific topical treatments, and the paper also stressed the importance of dental care to prevent tooth damage from self-induced vomiting. The prognosis for BN was reported to be better than for AN, with a 6.6% mortality rate at 10 years and 18% at 30 years post-treatment for AN. The paper also introduced a classification system for the 40 recognized cutaneous signs of eating disorders and discussed the risk of over-treatment due to patients' distorted body image perception.