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Ovidio Bermudez

Publications and source records attributed to Ovidio Bermudez.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

How should the clinician evaluate and manage the cardiovascular complications of anorexia nervosa?

Five to twenty percent of patients with anorexia nervosa die from their illness. One half of those patients die of medical complications (Steinhavsen, 2002). Malnutrition, dehydration, and electrolyte abnormalities may precipitate death by inducing heart failure or fatal arrhythmias. Patients and their families commonly call upon physicians to evaluate acute and ongoing risks of malnutrition and purging behaviors. Concerns about medical compromise currently tend to determine or influence insurance coverage of medical and psychiatric treatment of patients with eating disorders. There is very limited published data to guide clinicians in the evaluation, ongoing monitoring, or treatment. Surprisingly, no consensus exists regarding recommendations for either the ongoing evaluation of cardiac parameters or the clinical implications of common findings.

Anorexia Nervosa↗

Influence of stress in the onset of eating disorders: data from a two-stage epidemiologic controlled study.

BACKGROUND: We explore the role of stress in the onset of eating disorders (EDs) in a community sample of adolescents, the mediating role of psychiatric comorbidity and the quantitative evolution of stress in the year preceding the onset of an ED. METHODS: The Life Events and Difficulties Schedule interview was applied to a sample with 32 cases and 32 controls selected from a two-phase epidemiologic study among a representative population of adolescents, followed by a decay model to assess acute and chronic stress in the year preceding the onset of ED. Psychiatric comorbidity was assessed using the SCAN interview. RESULTS: Cases (46.9%) and 9.4% of controls were found to have associated psychiatric comorbidity (chi2 = 11.74, p = .001). Of cases, 6.3% and none of the controls had at least one severe stressful event (N.S). Of cases, 18.8% and 3.1% of controls had at least one major difficulty (Fisher exact test = 0.05). Of cases, 25% and 3.1% of controls had a provoking stressful agent (Fisher exact test = 0.026). Psychiatric comorbidity partially mediated the relationship between stress and EDs. The Structural Equation Modeling Analysis shows that chronic stress is strongly associated with the onset of EDs, both directly (r(2) = 0.38) and indirectly, through psychiatric comorbidity (r2 = 0.56). CONCLUSION: Chronic stress and psychiatric comorbidity are strongly associated with the onset of EDs. Psychiatric comorbidity is a partial mediating factor in the association of stress with eating disorders.

Adolescent↗