Vitamin status of 24 bulimic and 8 anorectic patients was determined. Intake of vitamins A, E, C, B,, BZ, Bb, B12, and folic acid is clearly reduced. Save vitamin C contrentration, which is reduced in several patients, all vitamin plasma values lie in the reference range. Great variability in the vitamin plasma concentrations was observed. Four patients had very high, almost toxic, retinol concentrations. The activation of erythrocytic transketolase, glutathione reductase, and aspartate transaminase is enhanced in a few patients. A plausible cause is a lack of vitamin B1, BZ, and B6. Five patients have a prolonged prothrombin time, perhaps resulting from a vitamin K deficiency. All these results show that the vitamin status of bulimic and anorectic patients should be controlled regularly in order to prevent severe vitamin deficiencies or intoxications.
Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, predominantly conditions of adolescent girls and young women, are recognized in the DSM-I11 (American Psychiatric Association, 1982) as two different eating disorders. Anorexia nervosa is characterized by behavior directed toward weight loss, resulting in emaciation, hypermotility, fear of gaining weight, and distorted body image (Bruch, 1965). Bulimia nervosa has some features in common with anorexia nervosa. In ad-