2005 issue 4

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Volume 14, issue 4

Case report

Mortality and causes of death in anorexia nervosa - a review and case report

Małgorzata Urban1
1. Kliniki Zaburzeń Afektywnych i Psychiatrii Młodzieży Katedry Psychiatrii Uniwersytetu Medycznego w Łodzi (studentka ITS)
Postępy Psychiatrii i Neurologii 2005; 14 (4): 367-370
Keywords: anorexia nervosa, mortality, causes of death

Abstract

Objectives. Anorexia nervosa belongs among mental disorders with the highest death risk. The aim of the paper was to briefly summarize the current knowledge about mortality and causes of death in the course of anorexia nervosa, and to present a fatal case of a female patient with this diagnosis.

Case report. The reported case was a 19-year-old woman suffering from anorexia nervosa of a bulimic type, who died in consequence of complications of this disorder.

Commentary. Death in patients with anorexia nervosa is most often caused by somatic complications of the disorder or by suicide. In the treatment of anorexia not only compensation of nutritional deficiency, but also psychotherapy is important.

Address for correspondence:
Małgorzata Urban, ul. Białostocka 14 m. 10, 93-355 Łódź, tel. 0-503009339, malgorzata.urban1@wp.pl