Živilė Zemeckaitė¹, Paulius Sėdžius¹, Silvija Bartašiūnaitė¹

¹ Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Academy of Medicine, Kaunas, Lithuania  

Abstract

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by altered body image, persistent food restriction and low body weight. Anorexia nervosa is associated with multiple medical complications and comorbidities, the most common of which is significant loss of bone mass. The low bone mass in AN is due to an uncoupling of bone formation and bone resorption, which is the result of hormonal adaptations aimed at decreasing energy expenditure during periods of low energy intake. Anorexia nervosa is associated with a greatly increased risk of bone fracture throughout the lifetime of patients (up to 57% of all women who’ve been diagnosed with AN have suffered a bone fracture at least once). The foremost cause for this is decreased bone tissue density. Pathogenesis and effects of AN on bone tissue as well as possible methods of treatment are discussed within this article.

Keywords: Anorexia nervosa, bone mineral density, bone metabolism.