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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Medical Treatment

Treatment often can be extremely challenging because someone with anorexia will not cooperate or resists participation in any treatment program. A coordinated team of specialists is needed to handle all the medical and psychological components of this illness.

• Initially, treatment must focus on stabilizing any life-threatening complications of starvation. In severe cases, the medical team will assist in regaining weight, possibly using nutrition replacement through an IV or feeding tube.
• The team must educate the person about the facts of the disease and its medical complications, as well as teach proper nutritional requirements.
• Psychiatric treatment uses cognitive, behavioral, and psychotherapeutic methods within a comprehensive treatment plan.
• Sometimes doctors will use medications, but such programs have shown only mixed results that they work.
• Family and support networks should be actively involved in the treatment and recovery for the individual with anorexia.