 |
|
|
|
|
Hair Analysis May Help Detect Eating Disorders
|
| | | | Related Healthscout Videos | |
|
Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 A report on the study was published in the October issue of Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry.
One expert thinks the test could be used to confirm a diagnosis of an eating disorder but not as the sole method of diagnosis.
"This test might be an auxiliary test, because right now we don't have good biological markers of anorexia nervosa," said Cynthia M. Bulik, the William and Jeanne Jordan Distinguished Professor of Eating Disorders and director of the eating disorders program at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.
Text Continues Below
The test might be able to give a history of an eating disorder, Bulik said, but it needs further refinement. "As a stand-alone diagnostic tool, we are not there yet," she said.
According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, more than 90 percent of people with eating disorders are women between the ages of 12 and 25. But research shows that increasing numbers of older women and men have these disorders, too. Without proper treatment, eating disorders can lead to malnutrition, heart problems and other potentially fatal complications.
More information
To learn more, visit the National Eating Disorders Association (www.nationaleatingdisorders.org ).
Page: << Prev | 1 | 2
|
Copyright © 2006 ScoutNews LLC. All rights reserved.
Last updated 10/17/2006
|
|
SOURCES: Kent Hatch, Ph.D., assistant professor, integrative biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; Cynthia M. Bulik, Ph.D., William and Jeanne Jordan Distinguished Professor of Eating Disorders, and director, eating disorders program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Oct. 16, 2006, Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry
|
.gif)
