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Diabulimia - the world's most dangerous eating disorder

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Diabulimia is when people with type-1 diabetes (T1DM) ration their insulin to lose weight
People with T1DM who reduce their insulin lose weight but increase their likelihood of serious complications and death
Diabulimia is neither an official medical nor psychiatric disease state but its prevalence is relatively high and increasing
Diabulimia is challenging to diagnose partly because it is a portmanteau of 2 separate conditions and people with the condition often keep the bulimic aspect secret
Recently research into the condition and a clinic dedicated to diabetes and eating disorders have been launched in London
These initiatives are expected to increase our understanding of diabulimia, improve screening and treatment options and provide integrated medical and psychiatric support for people with the condition

Diabulimia - the world's most dangerous eating disorder

In January 2019 the UK’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) awarded clinician scientist Marietta Stadler, from King's College Hospital, London, £1.2m to fund research into diabulimia, an eating disorder in which people living with T1DM deliberately and regularly restrict their prescribed insulin dosage for the purpose of weight loss.

Diabulimia is a media-coined term and only recently has it been considered as a separate disease state although it is still not formally recognised as such. We start this Commentary by briefly describing some aspects of the history of the condition.

On 27^th September 2011 Sian, the 24-year-old daughter of UK parliamentarian George Howarth, died from complications related to T1DM. As a teenager Sian had not kept up with her medication, she had missed appointments with doctors and dieticians, and was suffering from depression as a result of the condition. Sian had also developed neuropathy, which is damage to the nerves caused by T1DM. Since his daughter’s death Howarth has campaigned to raise awareness of diabulimia.
In 2012 Maryjeanne Hunt published a book entitled Eating to Lose: Healing from a Life of Diabulimia, in which she describes her struggle with the condition.
On 13^th February 2013 the UK’s South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (SLaM) published an article entitled, The Growing Problem of Diabulimia. According to Janet Treasure, Professor of Psychiatry and Director of Eating Disorder Services at SLaM, “it is estimated that 40% of T1DM females aged between 15-30 regularly omit insulin for weight control”.
In the July 2014 edition of Clinical Nursing Studies, a review paper concluded that diabulimia, “is not often recognized by primary healthcare providers or members of the individual’s family. If diabulimia is detected early, interventions can be implemented to minimize the risk of early morbidity and mortality”.
In January 2017 the UK's first diabetes and eating disorder out-patient service began working with young women living with diabulimia. Until then people in the UK with diabetes and eating disorders have been able to seek help for one or the other of the conditions, but never together. At the time of the clinic’s launch, Jonathan Valabhji, NHS England’s national clinical director for diabetes and obesity, said: “As a diabetes clinician I’ve seen first-hand the devastating impact that this condition can have on people and their families, and so these services are an important step forward in the recognition of diabulimia”.
In early 2017 the UK’s National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) upgraded its guidelines and quality standards for T1DM to feature psychological support related to the increased prevalence of eating disorders and the potential for insulin omission in people with T1DM.
On 4 August 2017, 27-year-old teacher Megan Davison, who had diabulimia, committed suicide. "In the absence of the help she needed, she couldn't see any way of carrying on," said her mother.
In September 2017, BBC Three aired a documentary entitled Diabulimia: The World's Most Dangerous Eating Disorder.
On 2^nd November 2017, the Scottish Parliament debated a motion on raising public awareness of diabulimia.

Diabulimia

Diabulimia merges the words ‘diabetes’ and ‘bulimia’. Diabetes is a disease in which your body’s ability to produce or respond to the hormone insulin is impaired, resulting in abnormal metabolism of carbohydrates and elevated levels of glucose in your blood. Bulimia is an eating disorder where you binge on food and then purge it by vomiting, laxatives, diuretics, exercise or other purging behaviours to prevent weight gain. Diabulimia is a term coined by the media and used by the general public. Although not well-known, diabulimia is a dangerous eating disorder among people with T1DM and describes the deliberate and regular administration of insufficient insulin to maintain glycaemic control for the purpose of causing weight loss by ‘purging’ calories via excess glucose in the urine. While not formally recognised either as a medical term or as a mental health condition in its own right, the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, (DSM-5), considers that insulin omission in order to lose weight is a clinical feature of anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Diabulimia has also been recognised in the 2017 UK’s National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance for eating disorders.

Insulin restriction and T1DM

To understand why insulin reduction causes weight loss, it helps to understand T1DM, which is a heterogeneous chronic lifetime disorder for which there is no known cure. T1DM is characterized by the destruction of pancreatic beta cells, culminating in absolute insulin deficiency and accounts for between five and 10% of the total cases of diabetes worldwide. In 2014 there were an estimated 422m people diagnosed with diabetes worldwide. The global prevalence of diabetes among adults over 18 has risen from 4.7% in 1980 to 8.5% in 2014.

Typically, T1DM has an early onset, but can occur at any age. It requires regular daily attention, which for children or adolescents can be daunting. The nutritional anomalies associated with the condition have important consequences (see below) and can be a physical and emotional struggle. To be diagnosed with T1DM represents a hard experience that requires subsequent psychological adaptation. Unfortunately, this often does not occur and can be followed by frustration and the non-acceptance of the disease.

T1DM occurs when your immune system attacks cells in your pancreas that make insulin and renders the pancreas unable to produce the hormone, which is needed to allow glucose (a sugar that circulates in your blood) to enter your cells to produce energy. When you consume food, your body converts it into glucose, which enters your bloodstream. Insulin helps to turn glucose into energy. Without a properly functioning insulin system, your body cannot break down glucose so it stays in your bloodstream and can be dangerous.

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Drunkorexia: a devastating and costly growing condition

Orthorexia: when eating healthily becomes unhealthy

If you are a person living with T1DM you must regularly check your blood glucose levels. Based on these levels and what you plan to eat, you must give yourself insulin. If you either fail to do so, or under-dose, your body cannot absorb glucose and it accumulates in your blood, a condition known as ‘hyperglycaemia’, in which case, your body attempts to compensate for the excess glucose, goes into starvation mode and starts to break down muscle and fat, releasing acids called ketones. The ketones build up, leading to diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), which can be fatal.

Epidemiology

Data from large global epidemiological studies of T1DM reported in a paper published in the February 2014 edition of Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, suggest that there are 0.5m children aged
It is estimated that as many as 11% of adolescent women with T1DM meet the criteria for a full-syndrome eating disorder. This is significant when compared to the incidence of eating disorders among women in general. It is estimated that between 0.5% and 3.7% of women suffer from anorexia nervosa, and an estimated 1.1% to 4.2% of women have bulimia in their lifetime. A paper in the June 2000 edition of the British Medical Journal, suggests that adolescent females with T1DM are 2.4 times more likely to develop eating disorders than peers of the same age without diabetes, and 1.9 times more likely to display symptoms of an eating disorder that does not meet the full diagnostic criteria. Other studies show that about 35% of females with T1DM have diabulimia.

Signs and symptoms

Diabulimia is challenging to diagnose and many primary care doctors and endocrinologists who treat people with T1DM may not recognize diabulimia among their patient population. This is partly because diabulimia is not an officially recognised disease state, partly because eating disorders and diabetes tend to be treated separately by different specialists, and partly because people with diabulimia may be ashamed and reluctant to seek help.

The most obvious sign of diabulimia is weight loss. Another common sign is poor blood-glucose control, as measured by elevated A1c levels, particularly if the person has a prior history of good control. Health professionals may wish to attune themselves to the classic signs of diabetes and the common symptoms of eating disorders. The former includes excessive urination, extreme thirst, constant hunger and fatigue. The latter includes dietary restrictions and heightened concerns about weight and body image.

Manipulating insulin to control weight

At the time of diagnosis with T1DM people have often lost a significant amount of weight. Regular doses of insulin are essential for controlling blood sugar levels and successfully managing the condition. However, a common side effect of such treatment is weight gain, and this can lead to a vicious circle. Insulin therapy can lead to weight gain; increasing weight may require increasing dosages of insulin to control blood glucose, which can lead to increased hunger and dietary intake, which can increase weight and enhanced concerns about body image.

Deliberately not taking or misusing insulin to cause weight loss is a purging behaviour that is uniquely available to individuals with T1DM. Weight loss can be achieved by decreasing the prescribed dose of insulin, omitting insulin entirely, delaying the appropriate dose, or manipulating the insulin itself to render it inactive. But when you have T1DM, you need insulin to live. Without it, you may lose weight, but more significantly you can lose your sight, harm your kidneys, damage the nerves in your feet and threaten your life.

Diets, social media and the thin ideal

The management of T1DM is further complicated because it also entails the careful selection of food, eating precise portions and the constant monitoring of carbohydrates. Because of the early onset of T1DM and the ubiquitous use of social media among children and adolescents, which often propagate the “thin ideal”; it seems reasonable to suggest that children and adolescents with T1DM are inherently more prone to issues revolving around food. Thus, in addition to manipulating insulin many people with T1DM commonly restrict their food intake, engage in bingeing and purging, misuse laxatives and adhere to overly strict exercise regimens to overcome body dissatisfaction.

In the US the cost of insulin results in rationing dosages

It seems worth mentioning that a significant proportion of people with T1DM in the US appear to be forced into a similar state of diabulimia because of the high cost of insulin, lack of medical insurance cover (about 10% of the US population [33m] do not have healthcare insurance), and relatively high levels of co-payments for medical insurance. These aspects of the American healthcare ecosystem tend to drive a percentage of people with T1DM to reduce or ration their prescribed dosage of insulin, and their disease state then assumes similar manifestations to diabulimia.

According to research findings published in the June 2018 edition of Diabetes Care, about 27% of the 1.25m people in the US with T1DM say that affording insulin has impacted their daily life. For people with T1DM, “access to insulin is literally a matter of life and death. The average list price of insulin has skyrocketed in recent years, nearly tripling between 2002 and 2013 . . . . [and] . . . individuals with diabetes are often forced to choose between purchasing their medications or paying for other necessities, exposing them to serious short- and long-term health consequences,” say the authors.

According to T1International, a charity which advocates affordable and accessible diabetes care, "People (in the US) spend most of their life in fear of losing their insurance, of running out of insulin and the cost going up, or of having to stay in terrible jobs or relationships to ensure they keep their health insurance coverage. . . . In the worst case, folks are rationing insulin which has led to many reported deaths and excruciating complications."

Research aimed at improve treatment

Given the extent of diabulimia and the significant medical risks associated with the condition, more clinical and technological research aimed to improve its treatment is critical to the future health of this at-risk population. Stadler’s research referred in the opening paragraph of this Commentary is significant. Interestingly, the National Institute for Health Research only supports projects which potentially have a, "clear benefit to patients and the public". Stadler’s research is expected to take five years, aims to provide a better understanding of diabulimia and devise a 12-module treatment plan for people with the condition.

Clinic for people with diabulimia

People with diabulimia could only seek professional help for their eating disorder and T1DM separately, but never together: that was until January 2017 when an out-patients’ clinic opened in London specifically for people with T1DM and eating disorders. The clinic is led by Khalida Ismail, Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine at King's College, London and the lead psychiatrist for diabetes at King's Health Partners, London, which is comprised of King's College London, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Ismail wants to unite psychiatrists and diabetes experts. "They never meet patients together and it's an inefficient use of current resources . . . . we'd actually be saving money by joining up services," she says.

Takeaways

Diabulimia represents one of the most complex patient problems to be treated both medically and psychologically. Standard treatments for eating disorders are not usually appropriate for cases of diabulimia. Treatment for eating disorders tend to involve removing the focus on food, which is contrary to best practice for the management of T1DM. It is important for clinicians and researchers to better understand risk factors, screening tools and treatment options for diabulimia. Also, there needs to be better access to diabetes specialist psychological services that can provide the integrated support that people with diabulimia need. The London clinic for diabetes and eating disorders and Stadler’s research are a good start.

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Drunkorexia: a devastating and costly growing condition

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Hepatology

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'Drunkorexia' is a growing and dangerous trend among young people to eat less, purge or exercise excessively before binge drinking
Purging prior to drinking includes vomiting, laxatives or self-starvation
The intention is to save calories for binge-drinking
41% of 18 to 24 year olds in a 2016 survey of 3,000 say they are not concerned about their overall health
Health providers are wasting millions on traditional healthcare education
Experts say we need to rethink how to encourage people to assume greater personal responsibility and accountability for their health
Healthcare providers have failed to leverage ubiquitous technologies and people’s changed lifestyles to engage and educate patients
To reduce the burden of drunkorexia healthcare providers will need to gain a better understanding of patients’ behaviors and ubiquitous 21^st century technologies

Drunkorexia: a devastating and costly growing condition

Drunkorexia is using extreme weight control methods as a means to compensate for planned binge drinking. The French refer to it as alcoolorexie: l'ivresse sans les kilos. Manger moins pour être ivre plus vite et ne pas trop grossir. Drunkorexia is a term coined by the media to describe the combination of disordered eating and heavy alcohol consumption. The condition is gaining recognition in the fields of co-occurring disorders (people who have both substance use and mental health disorders), psychiatry, and addictionology. The term attempts to reconcile 2 conflicting cultures: binge drinking and a desire to be thin. The former involves ingesting significant amounts of unwanted extra calories, so people starve themselves in preparation for a night out drinking. Drunkorexia results in significant human costs from hypoglycaemia, depression, memory loss, and liver disease, and substantial and unnecessary costs to healthcare providers.

Experts argue that traditional methods to lower the burden of drunkorexia cost millions and are failing, and suggest there is an urgent need to, “rethink how we try and engage with people and try and encourage them to assume greater personal responsibility and accountability for their health.” This Commentary describes drunkorexia, reports some research findings on the condition, and suggests health providers would lower the large and growing burden of drunkorexia by leveraging ubiquitous technologies such as the Internet and smartphones.

Not an officially medical diagnosis

Drunkorexia is not an officially recognized medical condition. There is no mention of it in Mediline Plus, the US National Institutes of Health's online medical information service produced by the National Library of Medicine. It is not mentioned in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), which is published by the American Psychiatric Association, and popularly known as “The Psychiatrist’s Bible”. Neither is the condition included in the World Health Organization's International Classification of Disease; nor in WebMD, the UK’s NHS online, NHS Choices, and the UK’s General Medical Council’s (GMC) website.

Signs and symptoms

Signs and symptoms include calorie counting to ensure no weight is gained when binge drinking, missing meals to conserve calories so that they can be spent on the consumption of alcohol, over-exercising to counterbalance calorie intake, and binge drinking to vomit previously digested food.

A dangerous condition

Despite evidence to suggest that more people are turning away from alcohol and becoming teetotallers, the prevalence of drunkorexia is increasing.

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Orthorexia: when eating healthily becomes unhealthy

It is a dangerous trend, especially among young people, which can lead to an array of physical and psychological consequences. For example, drinking in a state of malnutrition can predispose you to a higher rate of blackouts, alcohol poisoning, alcohol-related injury, violence, or illness. Drinking on an empty stomach allows ethanol to reach the blood system more rapidly, and raises your blood alcohol content often with dangerous speed. This can render you more vulnerable to alcohol-related brain damage. In addition, alcohol abuse can have a detrimental impact on hydration and your body's retention of minerals and nutrients, further exacerbating the consequences of malnutrition, and damaging your cognitive faculties. This can lead to short and long-term cognitive problems, including difficulty concentrating and making decisions, which ultimately can have a negative impact on academic and work-related performance. Drunkorexia also increases the risk of developing more serious eating disorders and alcohol abuse problems. As binge drinking is involved there is also a greater risk of violence, of risky sexual behavior, alcohol poisoning, substance abuse and chronic disease later in life.

Research

Although much of the research on drunkorexia is focused on university students, the condition is believed to be more widely spread. A challenge for researchers is the attitudes of university administrators and parents who are reluctant to admit that there is a problem either in their institutions or homes. The condition is often dismissed as a rite-of-passage. Notwithstanding, there have been a number of research studies, which suggest that drunkorexia is significant, growing fast and dangerous.

University of Missouri study

A 2011 University of Missouri study of the relationship between alcohol misuse and disordered eating, including calorie restriction and purging, suggests that drunkorexia is predominately a young women’s condition, which could affect their long-term health. The study found that 16% of respondents reported restricting calories to "save them" for drinking. 67% of students who restrict calories prior to binge drinking did so to prevent weight gain, while 21% did so to facilitate alcohol intoxication. 3 times as many women reported engaging in the behavior than men, and their stated motivations included “preventing weight gain”, “getting intoxicated faster” and “saving money”, which could be either spent on food or to buy alcohol. According to Victoria Osborne, Professor of Social Work and Public Health at the university, and lead author of the study, drunkorexia can have dangerous cognitive, behavioural and physical consequences. It also puts people at risk for developing more serious eating disorders or addiction problems.

Australian study

In an Australian context, a 2013 study surveyed 139 female university students, aged between 18 and 29 to examine compensatory eating and behaviors in response to alcohol consumption to test for drunkorexia symptomatology. 79% of respondents engaged in characterized drunkorexia behavior. The study also found that social norms of drinking, and the social norms associated with body image and thinness, impacted significantly upon the motivation for these behaviors.

University of Houston study

Findings of a University of Houston study on drunkorexia presented at the 2016 annual meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism in New Orleans, found that 80% of the 1,200 students surveyed had at least one heavy night of drinking in the previous month, and engaged in drunkorexic behavior. The methods of purging prior to drinking include vomiting, use of laxatives or missing meals. The study also reported that the condition is not limited to the US, and is present in both men and women.

Benenden’s National Health study

Healthcare group Benenden’s 2016 National Health Report suggests that drunkorexia is gaining ground among young people in the UK, and creating concerns among healthcare professionals. According to the study, young people in the UK prefer to eat less in order to “save” calories for alcohol consumption. Of the 3,000 people surveyed, 2 out of 5 (41%), between the ages of 18 and 24 said they eat healthily only to look good, but are not concerned about their overall health. According to the report, “Pressure to be slim, an awareness of exercising calorie control, and peer pressure to drink large amounts of alcohol are all factors in this phenomenon”, adding that a growing number of men are following this trend.

Survey participants were also asked general questions about healthy lifestyles. “By and large, the findings highlight that the public is in denial about how much they think they know about healthy eating, they claim to be near-experts, but when drilling down to real-life examples, the vast majority of respondents failed to choose the right answer to simple diet-related questions, or the healthier option when offered the choice between everyday food and drinks,” the report found.

“There also seems to be a woeful lack of awareness about basic dietary advice, despite legislation and attempts by the food production and manufacturing industry. It isn't clear whether this is down to poor education or a lack of interest, but I think we need to rethink how we try and engage with people and try and encourage them to assume greater personal responsibility and accountability for their health," says Dr John Giles, Benenden’s medical director.

Traditional healthcare providers failing

Traditional healthcare providers continue to waste billions on failing traditional methods of engaging and educating patients. Increasing self-management of your health is relevant, especially as primary care resources are shrinking as the prevalence of drunkorexia is rapidly increasing. However, achieving effective education and self-management requires a fundamental transformation of the way healthcare is delivered. The majority of people living with drunkorexia regularly use their smartphones for 24-hour banking, education, entertainment, shopping, and dating. Health providers have failed to effectively leverage this vast and rapidly growing free infrastructure and people’s changed lifestyles to introduce effective educational support systems to enhance the quality of drunkorexia care, increase efficiency, and improve patient outcomes. Today, mobile technology is part of everyday life and people expect to be connected with their relevant healthcare providers 24-7, 365 days of the year from anywhere.

Takeaways

A necessary pre-requisite for effective healthcare education to reduce the burden of drunkorexia is the actual engagement of people with the condition. Once patients are engaged, education should inform and empower people, and provide them with access to continuous self-management support. This is substantially different to the way traditional healthcare education is delivered as it transforms the patient–educator relationship into a continuous, rich, collaborative partnership.

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Orthorexia: when eating healthily becomes unhealthy

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Weight Management

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Orthorexia nervosa is the term used to describe a growing serious 'health food eating disorder'
The number of people suffering from the condition is believed to be millions and increasing
Orthorexia often begins by cutting out certain food groups and only eating 'clean' foods in an attempt to become healthier
Sufferers become obsessed with ‘clean’ food, often feel superior to people with different eating habits, and indulge in excessive fitness routines
Experts warn that orthorexia can lead to malnutrition, social isolation and depression.

Orthorexia: when eating healthily becomes unhealthy

Have you encountered someone who genuinely wants to live a healthier life by eating well, but then becomes so obsessed with “healthy” food that they become unwell and socially isolated?

If you have, then the person is likely to be suffering from orthorexia nervosa, an emerging dietary disorder in which an individual restricts intake to include only “healthy” foods, such as vegetables or organic foods, but in doing so develops an obsession with eating food believed to support “clean living”. Clean living is being mindful of the food's pathway between its origin and your plate, and eating food that is un- or minimally processed, refined, and handled, making them as close to their natural form as possible.

Having said this, it is important to mention that some restrictive diets can be healthy, and even necessary, for medical, ethical or religious reasons. Also, being mindful about what you consume is a positive way to live a healthy life: there is nothing wrong with eating healthily. However, orthorexia is different: becoming fixated on “clean” food can result in serious health problems.

Orthorexia is not anorexia

Unlike anorexics, orthorexics are preoccupied with the quality of food they consume rather than its quantity. The condition usually starts in a quest to be wholesome, when a person cuts out a food group, such as sugar, pulses, dairy products and processed food, but over time ends up with a diet so restrictive, that it contains only a limited number of ‘safe foods’, that the person becomes malnourished.

Orthorexia nervosa

Orthorexia nervosa describes a pathological obsession with “clean” nutrition, which is characterized by a restrictive diet, ritualized patterns of eating, rigid avoidance of foods believed to be unhealthy or impure, and excessive exercise. Although prompted by a desire to be healthy, orthorexia may lead to nutritional deficiencies, medical complications, and a poor quality of life.

Social isolation

Typically, orthorexics spend significant amounts of their time scrutinizing the source of food, and how it is processed and packaged to ensure that it is “clean”. The self-esteem of people with orthrexia becomes associated with their ability to stick to their diet of “clean food”, and they often feel guilty and angry with themselves if they stray from their strict list of acceptable foods. Orthorexics may develop feelings of social superiority to others, and judge those who indulge in “unclean” foods. Their obsession with specific foods often stops them socializing with family and friends, as social events frequently involve drinking and eating “unhealthily”. Also, excessive exercising plays an important role in relation to orthorexia.

Because orthorexics are “addicted” to thinking they are doing the right thing, they tend not to question whether their diet and lifestyle might have a negative impact on their health. Sufferers often take their eating habits to dangerous levels, cutting out food groups and combining their strict diet with too much exercise. In the video below, Dr Seth Rankin, founder and CEO of the London Doctors Clinic suggests that, “denial is the hallmark of an obsession”, and that you cannot treat someone with an obsession unless they recognize that they have a problem.

First diagnosed sufferer

Steven Bratman, a physician who coined the term orthorexia nervosa in 1997, diagnosed himself with the condition after he became obsessive about clean eating. According to Bratman, “Eventually orthorexia reaches a point at which the orthorexic devotes much of his life to planning, purchasing, preparing and eating meals.” Bratman developed 10 questions based on his experience to show how people with the condition could be identified: see below. Bratman’s work has not been validated as indicative of a syndrome; and therefore the diagnostic criteria for orthorexia are still uncertain.

Bratman’s 10-point test for orthorexia

Do you spend more than 3 hours a day thinking about your diet?
Do you plan your meals several days ahead?
Is the nutritional value of your meal more important than the pleasure of eating it?
Has the quality of your life decreased as the quality of your diet has increased?
Have you become stricter with yourself lately?
Does your self-esteem get a boost from eating healthily?
Have you given up foods you used to enjoy in order to eat the 'right' foods?
Does your diet make it difficult for you to eat out, distancing you from family and friends?
Do you feel guilty when you stray from your diet?
Do you feel at peace with yourself and in total control when you eat healthily?
RESULTS
Yes to 4 or 5 of the above questions means it is time to relax more about food.
Yes to all of them means a full-blown obsession with eating healthy food.

Orthorexia is not officially recognized

One of the reasons you might not have heard of orthorexia is because it is not officially recognized as an eating disorder. It is not mentioned as a diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), which is published by the American Psychiatric Association, and popularly known as “The Psychiatrist’s Bible”. Neither is the condition included in the World Health Organization's International Classification of Disease. Its lack of recognition leads primary care doctors to refer sufferers to nutritionists, which is a mistake because orthorexics require therapy that de-emphasizes food.

Prevalence difficult to determine

Without being officially recognized as a disease there has been no epidemiological studies on the condition. Notwithstanding, orthorexia is believed to affect millions and be on the increase. Some psychiatrists are beginning to study the condition and offer treatment to patients. In a recent survey of healthcare professionals, 66% reported having observed patients presenting with clinically significant orthorexia; and 66% suggested that the syndrome deserves more scientific attention.

The American National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders suggests there are some 30m people in the US suffering from eating disorders. Instagram has 26m posts with the #eatclean hashtag. According to the UK’s National Osteoporosis Society, 20% of people under 25 are cutting out or reducing dairy from their diets. A 2016 National Diet and Nutrition Study undertaken by Public Health England found that the calcium intake of 1 in 6 women under 24 was “worryingly low”.

The ORTO-15 test and research beginnings

Orthorexia’s lack of formal status also means that there is a dearth of research on the condition, although published literature and research data have increased in the past few years. In 2005 a group of Italian scientists modified Bratman’s criteria for detecting orthorexia, and developed the ORTO-15 questionnaire, which identifies how far such criteria can be used for psychometric and specific diagnosis. Researchers enrolled 525 participants; 404 were used in the construction of the ORTO-15 test, which comprised 15 multiple-choice questions; and 121 people participated in the ORTO-test’s validation. A score below 40 implies the presence of an obsessive pathological behavior characterized by a strong preoccupation with “clean” eating. Findings from this validation study reported that the ORTO-15 test has an efficacy of 73.8%, a sensitivity of 55.6%, and a specificity of 75.8%.

At least four studies have used the ORTO-15 test to evaluate the prevalence of a preoccupation with “clean” food. A 2010 Turkish study published in the journal of Comprehensive Psychiatry found that 43.6% of medical students showed a preoccupation with healthy food. A large Hungarian study published in 2014 in the journal BMC Psychiatry used the ORTO-15 test on 810 predominantly female (89.4%) university students, and found that over 70% had orthorexia tendencies. American studies have reported a prevalence of orthorexic behaviours ranging from 69% to 82.8% among undergraduate students.

The first study to examine the prevalence of orthorexia nervosa in athletes was completed in 2012 and showed a high frequency of orthorexia across both male (30%) and female (28%) athletes who were largely professional athletes involved in a range of sports. In 2013 a meta study published in Eating and Weight Disorders reviewed 11 studies of orthorexia. Findings suggest that the average prevalence rate for orthorexia was 6.9% for the general population, 35% to 57.8% for high-risk groups such as dieticians, other healthcare professionals, and artists. Risk factors were suggested to be obsessive-compulsive features, eating-related disturbances, and higher socioeconomic status.

Takeaways

Orthorexia appears to be on the increase at a time when the vast and escalating healthy lifestyle-information industry is complemented by the rapid exchange of ideas via social media. This means that individuals are regularly bombarded with dietary and healthcare advice, which they can share instantly. Orthorexia seems yet another serious condition of affluent societies, which is growing in significance.