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Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are associated with fertility problems and negative attitudes topregnancy, according to a UK study. The research also revealed highrates of unplanned pregnancies in women with a history of anorexia,suggesting they may be underestimating their chances of conceiving.The study is to be published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Eating disorders are known to cause disruption to a woman'smenstrual cycle, with substantial weight loss leading to hormonalchanges that might prevent ovulation, but so far little researchhas been carried out into how eating disorders might affectfertility. A team at King's College London and UCL investigated a group of11,088 pregnant women from the Avon area of the UK, with womenasked to complete questionnaires at 12 and 18 weeks gestation.Women with lifetime anorexia and bulimia were compared to the groupas a whole to assess the impact of their eating disorder onattitudes to fertility and pregnancy. Of the total number of women, 171 (1.5%) had anorexia at some pointin their life, 199 (1.8%) had bulimia and an additional 82 (0.7%)had suffered from both conditions. The remaining 10,636 (96%)formed the general population comparison group. The survey revealed that a higher proportion of women (39.5%) witha history of anorexia and bulimia took longer than six months toconceive compared to the general population (25%). However, theywere no more likely to take longer than 12 months to conceive thanthe general population. The study found that women with anorexiaand bulimia were more than twice as likely (6.2%) than the generalpopulation (2.7%) to have received treatment or help to conceivetheir current pregnancy. However, when asked at 18 weeks gestation, women with anorexia weremore likely to report that their current pregnancy wasunintentional. In this group of women 41.5% said their pregnancywas unplanned compared to 28.6% of women in the general population. The majority of women reported feeling overjoyed or pleased whenthey discovered that they were pregnant (71%). However, eatingdisorders were linked to negative feelings about pregnancy. Furtheranalysis has shown that women with anorexia and bulimia were morethan twice as likely (9.8%) than the general population (3.8%) toreport feeling unhappy when they found out they were pregnant. Lead author, Abigail Easter, from the Institute of Psychiatry atKing's College London, said: "This research highlights that there are risks to fertilityassociated with eating disorders. However, the high rates ofunplanned pregnancies in women with a history of anorexia suggestthat women may be underestimating their chances of conceiving. "Pregnancy can be a difficult time for women with eating disordersand this is the first time feelings about pregnancy have beenlooked at amongst this group of women. "Women planning a pregnancy should ideally seek treatment for theireating disorder symptoms prior to conception and healthprofessionals should be aware of eating disorders when assessingfertility and providing treatment for this." Dr Nadia Micali, Institute of Child Health, UCL and leadinvestigator added: "Health professionals are often unaware of the effects of eatingdisorders on pregnancy and fertility. Women with a history ofanorexia for example are more likely to have unplanned pregnancies.This has now been replicated in three large studies and hasimportant repercussions on the level of antenatal and postnatalcare they will need." Professor Philip Steer, BJOG editor-in-chief said: "Eating disorders have important clinical consequences, especiallyin women. This research shows that more women with eating disordersare unprepared for pregnancy and will therefore require moresupport during the antenatal and postnatal period." Additional References Citations. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China Curved Tempered Glass , Reflective Coating Glass for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Toughened Safety Glass.
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