Resolution of Bulimia Correlates With Changes in Ovarian Morphology
Originally published by Reuters Health, June 6, 2002
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) — In women with bulimia nervosa and polycystic ovaries, resolution of the eating disorder is associated with improvements in ovarian morphology, according to a report by British researchers.
As the authors point out, numerous reports have shown a strong link between polycystic ovaries and binge eating patterns. In a recent study of women diagnosed with bulimia nervosa, 75% had polycystic ovaries on ultrasound. Still, the reason for the association has been unclear.
To better understand the relationship, Dr. John F. Morgan, from the University of London, and colleagues studied eight women who had been treated for bulimia nervosa. The researchers' findings are published in the May issue of Fertility and Sterility.
Up to 2 years after receiving treatment for bulimia, the subjects' ovaries were imaged with ultrasound. At this point, seven women were bulimic or had binged in the previous 2 years. Of these women, six had polycystic ovaries and one had multifollicular ovaries. The only normal ovaries observed were in the one woman who was not bulimic and had not recently binged.
Nine years later, ultrasound was again performed. Five women met criteria for bulimia nervosa and three had normal eating patterns. Once again, the women with bulimia had polycystic ovaries and the women without the disorder had normal ovaries. Among those diagnosed at that time with bulimia and ovarian disease was the woman who 9 years earlier was free of bulimia and ovarian pathology.
"Our findings indicate that changes in bulimic eating patterns may mirror changes in ovarian morphology and, since the former precedes the latter, it implies that the abnormal eating behaviors associated with bulimia may facilitate expression of morphologically polycystic ovaries," the researchers note.
Changes in peripheral insulin sensitivity may be a mechanism that links the two conditions, the authors postulate.
