{"id":17905,"date":"2021-10-14T06:42:14","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T06:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/?page_id=17905"},"modified":"2021-10-14T06:42:14","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T06:42:14","slug":"can-the-eyes-help-detect-anorexia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-eye-health\/can-the-eyes-help-detect-anorexia\/","title":{"rendered":"Can the Eyes Help Detect Anorexia?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Recent research indicates eye movements could reveal the early signs of anorexia.<\/b><\/h2>\n<h2><b>What is anorexia?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Anorexia nervosa, more commonly referred to as \u2018anorexia\u2019, is a significant medical and mental health condition that, if left untreated, can be fatal.<\/p>\n<p>Anorexia nervosa is an illness that impacts women, men, adolescents and children, this condition also does not discriminate between ethnicities, cultures and socioeconomic groups.<\/p>\n<p><b>Anorexia is a serious mental illness, with a higher mortality rate than any other mental illness.<\/b><\/p>\n<h2><b>Anorexia by numbers<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>These statistics below show the seriousness of this illness:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Anorexia affects over 9% of the population<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Over 20% of anorexia deaths are by suicide<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">33% to 50% of all anorexia sufferers also have a mood disorder, including depression or bipolar<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Over half of all anorexics also suffer with a range of anxiety issues including obsessive-compulsive behaviors (OCD) and social phobias, such as agoraphobia.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>What are the symptoms &amp; signs of anorexia?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>One of the most popular myths regarding anorexia nervosa is that sufferers are always underweight.<\/p>\n<p>In reality, many patients with anorexia appear relatively healthy while being severely malnourished\u2014 which is why it\u2019s so important to understand all the warning signs and symptoms of anorexia.<\/p>\n<p>Anorexia nervosa is a severe eating disorder that can lead to a variety of health and behavioral problems. There are several indicators\u00a0 and warning signs:<\/p>\n<p><b>Medical symptoms<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Low weight<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Dramatic weight loss<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Bradycardia<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Disruption or total lack of menses<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Hypotension and orthostasis<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Hair thinning\/loss<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Behavioral warning signs<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Calorie restriction<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Obsession with food<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Sudden interest in diet<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Fear of weight gain<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">The belief that they are overweight when they are underweight<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Refusal of food<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Strange eating habits<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Denial of weight loss or hunger<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Compulsive exercising<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Social withdrawal<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Is there a visual sign of anorexia?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><i>Yes!\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Eye movements have recently been discovered to be a possible sign of anorexia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SEE RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-eye-health\/teens-smoking-and-blindness\/\">Teens, Smoking and Blindness<\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>If you suspect someone you know has anorexia, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/\">contact an eye doctor near you<\/a> who may be able to help.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\t<div class=\"practice-search-widget\">\n\t\t<h3>Find an eye doctor near you<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t<form class=\"practice-search-form practice-search-form-widget\" action=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/results\/\" method=\"get\">\n\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"distance\" value=\"100\" class=\"practice-search-distance\">\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"page\" class=\"practice-search-page\">\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"address_latitude\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"address_longitude\">\n\n\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"address\" class=\"practice-search-address\" placeholder=\"City, Surburb or Address\" value=\"\">\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"distance\" value=\"100\" class=\"practice-search-distance\">\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t<button type=\"submit\" class=\"practice-search-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M10.6796 0.130005C9.15708 0.130059 7.66615 0.5646 6.38198 1.38258C5.09781 2.20057 4.07373 3.36803 3.43004 4.74783C2.78634 6.12763 2.54976 7.66246 2.74808 9.17205C2.9464 10.6816 3.57139 12.1033 4.54964 13.27L0.729639 17.08C0.6364 17.1732 0.562439 17.2839 0.511979 17.4058C0.461519 17.5276 0.435547 17.6581 0.435547 17.79C0.435547 17.9219 0.461519 18.0524 0.511979 18.1743C0.562439 18.2961 0.6364 18.4068 0.729639 18.5C0.917942 18.6883 1.17334 18.7941 1.43964 18.7941C1.5715 18.7941 1.70207 18.7681 1.82389 18.7177C1.94571 18.6672 2.0564 18.5932 2.14964 18.5L5.99964 14.62C7.35406 15.6038 8.98566 16.1324 10.6596 16.13C12.7814 16.13 14.8162 15.2871 16.3165 13.7869C17.8168 12.2866 18.6596 10.2517 18.6596 8.13C18.6596 6.00827 17.8168 3.97344 16.3165 2.47315C14.8162 0.97286 12.7814 0.130005 10.6596 0.130005H10.6796ZM10.6796 14.13C9.49295 14.13 8.33291 13.7781 7.34622 13.1188C6.35952 12.4595 5.59049 11.5225 5.13636 10.4261C4.68224 9.32975 4.56342 8.12335 4.79493 6.95946C5.02644 5.79558 5.59788 4.72648 6.437 3.88736C7.27611 3.04825 8.34521 2.4768 9.5091 2.24529C10.673 2.01378 11.8794 2.1326 12.9757 2.58673C14.0721 3.04085 15.0092 3.80989 15.6685 4.79658C16.3277 5.78328 16.6796 6.94332 16.6796 8.13C16.6796 9.7213 16.0475 11.2474 14.9223 12.3726C13.7971 13.4979 12.2709 14.13 10.6796 14.13Z\" fill=\"#fff\"\/><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"practice-search-use-my-location\">\n\t\t\tSearch near me\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\n\t<\/form>\n\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<h3><b>Eye movements and anorexia<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>A recent study published in the <i>Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry <\/i>(Sept. 2021) found a potential biomarker to identify a person\u2019s risk of developing anorexia nervosa.<\/p>\n<p><b>According to the findings, monitoring anxiety levels together with a specific type of fast eye movement can successfully identify people who have or are at risk of developing anorexia.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The study, led by experts from Australia&#8217;s Swinburne Anorexia Nervosa Research Group, followed up on previous research that suggested that square wave jerks, a type of abnormal eye movement, could be used to distinguish anorexia nervosa sufferers from others.<\/p>\n<p>Square wave jerks are tiny saccadic eye movements. They are unintentional and can be identified by checking for brief flickering moments when a person&#8217;s eyes stray away from a target they are focusing on.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers gathered 80 women to test the validity of this potential biomarker: 20 women with anorexia nervosa, 20 recovered anorexia nervosa patients at a normal weight, 20 healthy sisters of women with anorexia nervosa, and 20 healthy controls.<\/p>\n<p><b>The researchers were able to distinguish anorexia nervosa patients from healthy controls with 92.5% accuracy when eye movements were coupled with an anxiety measure known as the State Trait Anxiety Inventory<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>Surprisingly, there was no difference in square wave jerk rates between anorexia nervosa patients, recovered anorexia nervosa patients, and healthy sisters of anorexia nervosa patients.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of the acute disease activity, this strongly suggests that the ailment has a hereditary component.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LEARN MORE:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-eye-health\/\">Guide to Eye Health<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><b>If you suspect someone you know may have anorexia, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/\">contact an eye doctor near you.<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p><i>Researchers hope to be able to utilize eye twitching as a screening tool to identify patients who are at risk of developing anorexia nervosa.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>This research may allow doctors to screen individuals and provide support to help them avoid this serious disease.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recent research indicates eye movements could reveal the early signs of anorexia. What is anorexia? Anorexia nervosa, more commonly referred to as \u2018anorexia\u2019, is a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1206,"featured_media":17906,"parent":12328,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-article.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17905","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Can the Eyes Help Detect Anorexia? - Optometrists.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/general-practice-optometry\/guide-to-eye-health\/can-the-eyes-help-detect-anorexia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can the Eyes Help Detect Anorexia? - Optometrists.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recent research indicates eye movements could reveal the early signs of anorexia. 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