The Gut in Anorexia Nervosa: Keep It Moving!
Constipation is one of the well-known physical complications of anorexia nervosa. Contributing to the constipation are an intestinal musculature weakened by starvation, the centrally mediated physiologic "slow-down" of body metabolism in starvation, and the patient's voluntary fluid restriction. Spontaneously arising constipation is exacerbated by medications that have anticholinergic side effects.
In anorexia nervosa, constipation can be much more than an inconvenience, as the following example shows:
A 16-year-old girl who had anorexia nervosa became badly constipated, with the radiograph showing impacted stool throughout the colon. She suffered many complications, including pain and the development of intermittent urinary retention, brought on first by anticholinergic medications but worsened by fecal constipation.
