The most famous person to die from complications related to anorexia nervosa is the American singer Karen Carpenter. Her death in 1983, at the age of 32, brought worldwide attention and research into eating disorders, which were little-known to the public at the time.
Sally Field - The actress suffered from anorexia nervosa in her late teens and early twenties. Alanis Morissette - The singer has opened up about her struggles with anorexia and bulimia in the past. Dennis Rodman - The former NBA star has spoken publicly about his struggles with bulimia during his playing days.
Anorexia causes around 10,200 deaths every year as a direct result of the eating disorder. This equals one death every 52 minutes. People with anorexia are also 18 times more likely to attempt suicide than individuals without an eating disorder.
From age 13 Zavaroni suffered anorexia nervosa, and she developed clinical depression when she was 15. Following an operation to cure her depression, Zavaroni died at the age of 35 from pneumonia on 1 October 1999.
Karen Carpenter, a singer who long suffered under the burden of the expectations that came with pop stardom, died on February 4, 1983, succumbing to heart failure brought on by her long, unpublicized struggle with anorexia.
They are not a “diet gone wrong”' – in fact, anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. They often cause major physical health problems and without the right support people with eating disorders often become isolated: cut off from education, work or a social life.
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that affects about one in 100 to 200 girls or women in the United States. A person with this disorder limits eating, and by definition weighs at least 15% less than his or her ideal weight. At least 90% of cases are in women and the disorder usually begins in adolescence.
Approximately half of patients will not recover following an adequate treatment course, and longer duration of illness is among the identified predictors of poor outcomes.
At the country level, the top three countries with the highest ASDR for eating disorders in 2021 were Switzerland (0.06, 95% UI: 0.04–0.07, per 100,000), Japan (0.04, 95% UI: 0.03–0.05, per 100,000), and the Netherlands (0.04, 95% UI: 0.03–0.05, per 100,000) (Supplementary Figure S1).
Karen Carpenter is one of the best-known pop singers to have been overcome by longtime anorexia nervosa, and her death at age 32, in 1983, shocked most fans worldwide.
A meta-analysis using a random effects model revealed an estimate of the mean standardised mean difference (SMD) of 0.72 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.53 and 0.91. The SMD of 0.72 means that patients with EDs score on average 10.8 units (95% CI 7.9 to 13.6) above the average IQ of the normative population.
Karen Carpenter died from congestive heart failure caused by complications from her long battle with anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder that severely damaged her heart due to years of extreme dieting and its effects, leading to her death at age 32 in 1983. Her case brought significant, widespread attention to eating disorders.
Some studies have found that White adults have a higher lifelong prevalence for eating disorders including anorexia nervosa (Udo & Grilo, 2018), bulimia nervosa (Striegel-Moore, Dohm, Kraemer, Taylor, Daniels, Crawford, & Schreiber 2003), and binge eating disorder (Udo & Grilo, 2018) compared to other ethnic groups.
Common eating disorders include binge eating disorder, bulimia nervosa, and, less common but very serious, anorexia nervosa.
Anorexia nervosa is oftentimes cited as the most dangerous eating disorder due to its alarming mortality rate; anorexia has the highest mortality rate among mental health conditions. Each year, approximately 5.1 deaths per 1000 are due to anorexia.
Anorexia is more common among girls and women than boys and men. Anorexia is also more common among girls and younger women than older women. On average, girls develop anorexia at 16 or 17.
Time course: short-term versus long-term disease
The long-term effects are osteoporosis, cardiovascular disturbances, diabetes mellitus, thyroid disorders, gastrointestinal disorder, fertility and pregnancy problems, and other psychiatric disorders [9].
The eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, respectively, affect 0.5 percent and 2-3 percent of women over their lifetime. The most common age of onset is between 12-25. Although much more common in females, 10 percent of cases detected are in males.
In a sample from an American emergency room, 16% of adult patients screened positive for an eating disorder. Anorexia has the highest case mortality rate and second-highest crude mortality rate of any mental illness. 10,200 deaths each year are the direct result of an eating disorder—that's one death every 52 minutes.
Nutrient deficiencies and muscle breakdown
Another serious side effect of undereating is the development of nutrient deficiencies, which can lead to health conditions like anemia (often a result of iron deficiency), cold intolerance, hair loss, skin problems, insomnia, bone issues, and a weakened immune system.
Less common eating disorders:
What Is the Hardest Mental Illness to Live With?
By some counts, anywhere from 5-10% of people with anorexia nervosa will die within 10 years of developing the condition, and 18-20% will die within 20 years. Compared to all females in the general population between ages 15-24, the anorexia death rate is 12 times higher.
Among individuals with eating disorders, the two most prevalent personality disorders appear to be obsessive compulsive personality disorder (anorexia nervosa, restricting type) and borderline personality disorder (anorexia nervosa, binge-eating purging type; bulimia nervosa).
EDs are relatively common in young people, affecting 5.5%–17.9% of young women and 0.6%–2.4% of young men by the time they reach early adulthood. EDs are more prevalent in females, with recent increases in prevalence reported primarily in females 15–19 years of age.