General characteristics of the skin in eating disorders

Abstract

In anorexia nervosa, skin signs have been reported when body mass index is below or = 16 kg/m (Hediger et al., Schweiz Med Wochenschr 130(16):565‘575, 2000). With a BMI between 17.5 and 16, the skin is usually pale or yellowish and cold, but no specific signs are found. Skin signs in eating disorders are the expression of starvation, of vomiting, of abuse/misuse of drugs such as laxatives and diuretics, and of the psychiatric morbidity. Some skin signs are characteristic of eating disorders and have been considered as ‘guiding signs” to suspect the presence of a still not diagnosed eating disorder. Guiding signs include lanugo-like body hair due to starvation, Russell sign and enamel erosions due to self-induced vomiting, and self-induced dermatoses due to psychiatric comorbidity.