Aulinas et al recently conducted a study to better understand the medical complications and endocrine alterations in patients with low-weight avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) and how are these different from those in anorexia nervosa (AN) and healthy controls (HC).

An exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted that compared 20 low-weight females with ARFID with 42 females with AN and 49 HC with no history of an eating disorder.

There was considerable overlap in medical comorbidities and endocrine features in ARFID and AN; however, there was an earlier onset of deviant eating behaviors in ARFID. There were distinct medical and endocrine alterations in ARFID compared to AN as well, such as a greater prevalence of asthma, a lower number of menses missed in the previous 9 months, higher total T3 levels, and lower total T4:total T3 ratio. The differences persisted after adjusting for age and might point to variations in pathophysiology, acuity of weight fluctuations, and/or nutritional composition of food consumed.

The findings thus emphasize on the need for early diagnosis and intensive therapeutic intervention from disease onset in ARFID.

Source: Aulinas A, Marengi DA, Galbiati F, et al. Medical comorbidities and endocrine dysfunction in low-weight females with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder compared to anorexia nervosa and healthy controls. Int J Eat Disord. 2020 Apr;53(4):631-636.