Brief report: Decreased bone mineral density as a long-term complication of teenage-onset anorexia nervosa.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To follow up bone mineral density (BMD) 4 years after decreased BMD was diagnosed in adult individuals with teenage-onset anorexia nervosa (AN). METHOD: In a previous study BMD was assessed in 39 individuals (36 women, 3 men) 11 years after AN onset. Decreased BMD occurred in a minority. In the present study, a 4-year follow-up of individuals with decreased BMD, 11 AN women were reassessed by using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Two women still had an eating disorder (ED). RESULTS: Eight out of eleven women met criteria for decreased BMD/osteoporosis. There was an increase in BMD of total body and lumbar spine (LS). There was a relationship between lumbar BMD and BMI. CONCLUSION: At follow-up of decreased BMD in adult women with teenage-onset of AN, there is a possibility of improvement of BMD.