Am J Psychiatry 1984; 141:753-759
Copyright © 1984 by American Psychiatric Association
Is there a relationship between eating disorder and affective disorder? New evidence from sleep recordings
JL Katz, A Kuperberg, CP Pollack, BT Walsh, B Zumoff and H Weiner
There is evidence that patients with anorexia nervosa (particularly those
who also have bulimia) and patients with affective disorder share many
features. The authors present sleep polygraph data from 20 young women with
anorexia nervosa (17 also bulimic) and 10 age-matched normal women. Their
urinary free cortisol levels were determined, and the subjects with eating
disorders were also rated for depression. The findings suggest the
existence of a subgroup of patients who show sleep abnormalities, in
addition to clinical and possibly endocrine abnormalities, that indicate
concurrent affective disorder. The authors present several models that
could account for this relationship.
