Anorexia Nervosa (cont.)

Medical Author:

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist. She is a former Chair of the Committee on Developmental Disabilities for the American Psychiatric Association, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Medical Director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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Diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa

Medical assessment must include height and weight measurements, vital signs, blood and urine tests, an ECG, and a thorough history and physical exam.

• Criteria used to diagnose anorexia nervosa include the following signs and symptoms:
• Refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height (usually weight has dropped to less than 85% of an expected normal weight)
• Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat even though underweight
• Disturbance in the way your body weight or shape is pictured or otherwise experienced; undue influence of body weight or shape on your feeling of self-worth; denying the seriousness of your current low body weight
• In menstruating women, missing at least three consecutive menstrual cycles (creates the condition of amenorrhea)
• Determining the diagnosis of anorexia nervosa is difficult. A variety of acute and chronic medical and psychiatric conditions can have the same signs and symptoms. A physician must rule out the other illnesses.