Eating disorders are so often misunderstood by laypeople. It’s too easy to chalk up the food behaviors to a desire to lose weight and disregard the severity of the symptoms.
What’s even harder to comprehend is how these illnesses are not only debilitating but can be lethal.
I focus more often in this blog on the eating disorder behaviors and the psychological component of these disorders. Just as important in managing eating disorders is taking care of the medical complications.
Purging and laxative abuse can lead to electrolyte abnormalities which cause two serious long term medical issues. The first is an abnormal heart rhythm from a low potassium level which can lead to death. The second is kidney dysfunction and even kidney failure necessitating kidney transplant.
Starvation can cause poor function in many organ systems: metabolism, temperature regulation, heart function, brain function including cognitive symptoms and emotional dysregulation, bone marrow suppression leading to susceptibility to infection and anemia and the list goes on and on. The true takeaway is that starvation can cause any system to shut down. Whichever part of the body is more vulnerable is the one likely to shut down first.
And even more central is the hopelessness many people feel when in the throes of an eating disorder. Being so trapped makes many people feel helpless enough to consider or even attempt suicide.
The combination of the myriad medical consequences of eating disorders and suicidal thoughts makes an eating disorder much more than a desire to lose weight. It’s crucial to take these illnesses very seriously and understand how often an eating disorder can take a life.
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