New tool for eating disorders

Denial is one of the greatest roadblocks to diagnosing and treating eating disorders. Some people try to conceal these issues or deceive themselves that they do not have a problem.

Physicians and other professionals who suspect a patient has an eating disorder need objective information that points to the problem. Researchers at Brigham Young University say human hair may hold the key to better diagnosis of these issues. Human hair, they say, records nutritional and dietary status over time, revealing subtle differences in carbon and nitrogen levels. In a test group of people known to have eating disorders, the test produced positive results in 80 percent of them. The researchers' work has been published in the journal Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry.

More work is needed to develop a test for health professionals, but this research is an important step in diagnosing eating disorders and getting patients into treatment as soon as possible.

Estimates vary, but anywhere from 1 percent to 10 percent of American females in their teens and early 20s have eating disorders, experts say. The disorders, which also affect some young men, can be deadly.

According to the Mayo Clinic, eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa can be chronic and difficult to overcome. However, treatment can enable some patients to gain a healthier sense of self, return to healthier eating habits and reverse some of anorexia nervosa's serious complications, according to the clinic's Web site.

It makes sense that the hair acts as recording device. It is sometimes analyzed for evidence of illicit drug use. Anthropologists have tested the hair of intact mummies to determine when corn was introduced into diets in South America.

Again, the results of the BYU research are preliminary. But the research holds great promise for the accurate diagnosis of disorders that devastate a patient's physical and emotional well-being.