Anorexia is common and most recover

HELSINKI, Finland, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- A study of young, Finnish women showed that anorexia nervosa -- an eating disorder -- is quite common but most victims recover.

Collaborating scientists at Columbia University in New York and the University of Helsinki in Finland found the outcome for anorexia nervosa is generally good -- up to 70 percent of women with anorexia recover before age 30.

On average, the duration of anorexia was three years.

In the study, 2.2 percent of young Finnish women suffered from severe anorexia nervosa, but if milder forms of self-starvation and obsessive anxiety about weight and shape were included, up to 5 percent of women suffered from anorexic symptoms during their lifetime.

Anorexic symptoms usually started between ages 10 and 25; while the peak of illness onset was between ages 15 and 19. Although Finland has a taxpayer-funded healthcare system that covers everyone, only half of women with anorexia nervosa were recognized by healthcare professionals and fewer received any type of treatment for their symptoms.