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Daniel A Kinderlehrer
Private Practice, USA
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Pulsus J Surg Res
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality; it has the highest mortality of any mental health disorder. While AN is primarily considered a psychiatric disorder, infections may play a contributory and possibly a prominent role. A case is presented which indicates a causal association between polymicrobial tick-borne infections and AN. This adolescent female was simultaneously infected with Borrelia burgdorferi, Babesia microti, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Bartonella. She responded to treatment with oral and intravenous antibiotics, and her eating disorder has remained in remission for four years. This presentation will review the medical literature documenting the association between infection and eating disorders, and describe the possible pathogenesis of infection-induced AN. The identification of pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS) as including anorexic pathology has illuminated the role of infection induced autoimmunity in the genesis of AN in some patients. Given the increasing prevalence of both eating disorders and tick-borne infections, this association warrants further study.
