Early warning signs that someone may have an eating disorder have been revealed in a large-scale data study conducted by Swansea University researchers.
The results, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, showed that people diagnosed with a disorder had higher rates of other conditions and of prescriptions in the years before their diagnosis. The findings may give GPs a better chance of detecting eating disorders earlier.
Eating disorders – such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder – affect an estimated 1.6 million people in the UK, though the true figure may be higher as many people do not seek help.
They predominantly affect women but also men; most people are diagnosed during adolescence and early adulthood. Eating disorders have the highest mortality of all mental illnesses, both from physical causes and from suicide.