Hair Test Can Help Detect Anorexia Nervosa And Bulimia

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Main Category: Eating Disorders
Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry;  Mental Health;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 17 Oct 2006 - 11:00 PDT

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A new test can help determine whether a patient is suffering from bulimia or anorexia nervosa, say scientists from Brigham Young University, USA. Diagnosing eating disorders is often hampered because of patient resistance.

You can read about this in the journal Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry.

The new test analyzes carbon and nitrogen content in your hair. The nutritional health of a person can be determined because the body records eating habits in the hair. As your hair grows, new proteins are added to the base of each strand. What you eat influences the proteins. You could say that your hair is your nutritional chemical diary.

Lead researcher, Kent Hatch, said "By taking some hairs from an individual and analyzing it for carbon and nitrogen, we can tell with 80 percent accuracy whether someone has anorexia or bulimia. The test provides an objective way of discerning whether they have an eating disorder."

The scientists wanted to see whether the test could differentiate between people who have an eating disorder and those who don't. They found that it was so effective they needed no more than five strands of hair per person.

Kent Hatch said the test could eventually help monitor a patient's progress. He added that further studies are needed before the test can be effectively used by healthcare professionals.

"An objective means of diagnosing anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa using 15N/14N and 13C/12C ratios in hair"
Kent A. Hatch, Morgan A. Crawford, Amanda W. Kunz, Steven R. Thomsen, Dennis L. Eggett , Stephen T. Nelson , Beverly L. Roeder
Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry
DOI 10.1002/rcm.2740 - Volume 20, Issue 22 , Pages 3367 - 3373
Click here to see abstract online

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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