Anorexia under the scope and graded

A new system developed for diagnosing anorexia nervosa will help the treatment and recovery of sufferers by grading the severity of the eating disorder.

The improved system developed at the University of Sydney, aims to track anorexia nervosa patients in stages, similar to cancer sufferers.

Sufferers will be graded in terms of the severity of the eating disorder, from stage one to stage four.

Professor Stephen Touyz at the University of Sydney said the new system provides hope for sufferers at an earlier stage.

“If you don’t have treatment for it an early stage, you may not have a chance,” he said.

“By the time you have anorexia nervosa, and people can see that you’ve got it, you’re an extremely ill person. This is an illness where 20 percent of people who are diagnosed could potentially die.”

Being a veteran in the field for 30 years, Mr Touyz, developed the system to provide an alternative to sufferers who do not yet meet its official diagnostic criteria.

Mr Tyouz said once the illness becomes chronic, it can lead to patients dying early and suffering from illness like osteoporosis and lower fertility rates.

The Butterfly Foundation’s National Communications and Fundraising Manager, Sarah Spence said: “We do believe that there needs to be a more hand-on approach when it comes to diagnosing and treating eating disorders”

The system is designed to give an indication of how serious the disease is on a case by case basis.

“You can diagnose the patient as stage one, and you can say to them if you don’t get help now you will go to stage two, three and four – and this is what happens in those stages.”

He said there is a severe lack of hospital treatment options for adults suffering from the disease.

“In NSW, there are almost no places for adults to get treatment without private health insurance. There are two hospital beds at RPA, and another few at Westmead that aren’t specifically designated as eating disorder beds,” he said.

As reported in the Sydney Morning Herald, Professor Touyz proposed the diagnosis stages for the international revision of psychiatric diagnoses, DSM-V, but was advised there isn’t enough research to confirm the new system.

Mr Touyz said: “If you tell people you have EDNOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified), few people understand. But if you say you have stage one anorexia nervosa, people appreciate the seriousness of the condition.”

The Federal Government is currently funding a $3 Million project over the next three years which will see collaborations of professionls within the sector come up with a national approach to treating eating disorders.