HEALTH UPDATE: eating disorders may disrupt periods

Any type of eating disorder can boost a woman's likelihood of having irregular menstrual periods, a new study confirms. Based on the findings, "when someone's got irregular menstruation, eating disorders should be on the radar screen," Dr Cynthia M. Bulik of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health.
Missing periods raises a woman's risk of osteoporosis, Bulik noted, and may also impair fertility. According to current diagnostic criteria, anorexia nervosa is the only eating disorder subtype associated with menstrual irregularities, Bulik said. A woman must have absence of menstrual periods for at least three months to be diagnosed with anorexia nervosa.