Not Just Teens: When Adults Wrestle Eating Disorders

Not Just Teens: When Adults Wrestle Eating Disorders

Though typically thought to afflict teenage and young adult women, eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia can strike in midlife – and what’s more, they can affect men, too.

And because these older adults might not fit the stereotypical patient profile – and because symptoms like bone loss or missed periods might be attributed to normal aging processes, like menopause – many people with the disorders might be flying under the radar of their friends, families, even their physicians.

To learn more about how one’s genes, environment, and life circumstances all come together to put adults at risk for eating disorders, we spoke to URMC expert Dr. Mary Tantillo.

In the clip below, she offers some insight into the disorders (and why doctors might miss them), plus some tips on how to gently broach the subject if you’re worried about a friend or family member.

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Dr. Tantillo serves as the CEO and Clinical Director of the Healing Connection, a partial hospitalization program for adults and adolescents battling eating disorders. The center opened in Fairport, N.Y, in early 2010, providing a much-needed local treatment option. To learn more about the Healing Connection, call (585) 641-0281 or click here.

Tantillo is also the Director of the Western New York Comprehensive Care Center for Eating Disorders (WNYCCCED), and an associate professor of Clinical Nursing at the University of Rochester School of Nursing, and a clinical associate professor of Psychiatry at the University of Rochester School of Medicine.

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*  The above story is adapted from materials provided by University of Rochester Medical Center

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