How eating disorders can damage the heart

Every 52 minutes, someone in the U.S. 死于饮食失调. Some of those deaths will be from cardiovascular complications.

"The heart is severely affected by weight loss and malnutrition,”医生说。. 菲利普·梅勒, 丹佛饮食失调和严重营养不良急性中心的创始人和医学主任. “疾病越严重，患者就越有可能出现心脏并发症."

Common eating disorders include anorexia and bulimia, both of which involve an obsession with weight and distorted body image. 厌食症患者避免或严格限制食物，并可能坚持不懈地锻炼. 暴食症患者通常在暴饮暴食后通过呕吐或使用泻药或利尿剂来排便. Some people with anorexia also binge eat.

最近定义的两种饮食失调是暴饮暴食障碍和回避/限制性食物摄入障碍, which affect eating behaviors but do not include body image obsessions.

饮食失调会导致心脏发生变化，从而导致更高的终身心血管健康风险. 这主要是由于厌食症患者的营养不良和贪食症患者的电解质失衡.

Dr. Riti帕特尔, a cardiologist at the Lankenau Heart Institute Mainline Health in Philadelphia, said eating disorders can cause various cardiovascular issues, ranging from a slowed heart rate to heart failure.

"The eating disorder is quite severe if these things happen,她说.

Different eating disorders affect the heart differently, 梅勒说, 同时也是科罗拉多大学医学院的医学教授. 在厌食症患者中, 营养不良和体重减轻会导致心肌萎缩和心率减慢, 一种称为心动过缓的情况，静止时心率低于每分钟60次. Anorexia also can cause other abnormal heart rhythms.

"When a person of any body size restricts food intake, oftentimes they develop a slow heart rate,”医生说。. Jennifer Gaudiani, founder and medical director of the Gaudiani Clinic in Denver. "This is because the body has slowed the metabolism."

"The heart atrophies,梅勒说。. "It slows down like a bear that's hibernating. And that can turn into dangerous rhythms."

“从本质上来说,高迪亚尼说, "the body doesn't want to use any additional calories for extra heartbeats at rest."

厌食症患者在所有精神疾病中死亡率第二高根据… 2023综述文章 published in the Journal of Eating Disorders. 整体, 因饮食失调而住院的人的死亡率可能是一般人群的5到7倍根据… 2020年加拿大研究 published in The British Journal of Psychiatry.

过度呕吐和使用与贪食症相关的泻药会导致电解质失衡，从而增加心律异常的风险. 暴食症对心脏造成的损害也会导致充血性心力衰竭和心源性猝死.

Some people with bulimia also take ipecac to induce vomiting, 哪些会对心脏有害, 梅勒说. It can lead to cardiomyopathy – when the heart muscle becomes enlarged, thick or rigid – and heart failure.

高迪尼说，她也看到许多患有饮食失调的人来她的诊所，他们患有体位性心动过速综合征, 或盆, 当站立时返回心脏的血容量减少时就会发生这种情况. It is characterized by a rapid heartbeat, 头晕, 头晕, heart palpitations and other symptoms.

Although eating disorders can affect people of any age or gender, teenage girls and women in their 20s have the highest rates in the U.S.根据… 2020年的报告 来自几个小组，包括哈佛大学饮食失调预防战略培训倡议.H. Chan School of Public Health and Boston Children's Hospital. 估计有28人.美国有800万人.S. will have an eating disorder at some point in their life.

父母和其他关心他们的人应该注意那些被体重困扰的迹象, 痴迷地锻炼, 吃饭时经常离开桌子去洗手间，或者穿着宽松的衣服来掩饰自己的憔悴, 梅勒说.

饮食失调可能导致心脏问题的迹象和症状包括头晕, 胸部疼痛, 呼吸急促（气促）, frequent nose bleeds and a lack of energy, 他说.

Research shows the COVID-19 pandemic 推动了增长 在饮食失调方面，部分原因是社会孤立加剧和获得护理的机会受限.

“陪审团已经决定了, 很明显，COVID对那些有饮食失调倾向的人并不友好,梅勒说。. “隔离对他们来说很糟糕. They were cooped up all day looking at the fridge and the mirror. If body weight is all of your focus, 你有更多的沙巴足球体育平台专注于游戏，因为你不用出去和世界互动."

高迪亚尼说，她的诊所看到在疫情期间寻求治疗的人数有所增加.

“对于那些容易试图通过食物找到稳定和/或安慰的人来说，有太多事情是我们无法控制的, 这场流行病点燃了或加剧了饮食失调的火焰,她说.

有心血管并发症的人需要治疗他们的心脏问题, 这可能会危及生命, but must be treated simultaneously for their eating disorder, 帕特尔说.

"You have to treat the underlying disorder,她说.

将饮食失调的人恢复到健康的体重可以解决由营养不良引起的心脏结构变化, 但必须谨慎行事, 梅勒说. People who are severely malnourished are at high risk for refeeding syndrome, which occurs when nutrition is reintroduced too quickly. 这可能是致命的.

梅勒说，同样重要的是，不要因为饮食失调而责怪别人. "These are not disorders of choice, and we need to recognize this. 这其中有遗传因素. If a parent had it, there's a high chance of their children developing it as well."

他说，饮食失调的严重程度决定了一个人需要什么样的帮助.

“如果你有轻微的饮食失调，去找高中辅导员或治疗师，”梅勒说. "If more severe, call an eating disorder center. 如果是极端情况，就去在这方面有专业知识和熟练程度的医院."