The Medical Implications of Active Eating Disorders for Reproductive-Aged Women

Abstract: The effect of eating disorders (EDs) on reproductive-aged women is clinically under-recognized. In addition to the acute medical complications associated with EDs, EDs have a profound impact on fertility, sexual function, obstetric outcomes, and life-long medical health. Furthermore, EDs during pregnancy can negatively affect neonatal outcomes, and may have a long-term impact on offspring through fetal programming. However, identifying and treating EDs in reproductive-aged women can mitigate these risks. Many women with EDs are not in mental health treatment; and, consequently, they may present to health care providers for the medical sequela first (Hart et al. 2011). As a result, Consultation-Liaison psychiatrists are in a unique position to identify women with EDs and to modify these adverse outcomes. Our symposium will highlight the prevalence of EDs in women, including in women seeking infertility treatment and in the perinatal period. We will discuss the medical implications of EDs in women across reproductive stages. The session will highlight screening tools and tips for identifying EDs, and it will provide a review of the evidence-based treatments available.

Presentations:

1: 20 minutes - Suzanne Straebler, PhD, PMH-BC, Director of the Eating Disorders Partial Hospital Program and Outpatient Clinic at Weill Cornell/NewYork Presbyterian Hospital.

< !· Brief overview of eating disorder diagnoses and the impact of eating disorders on female fertility.



2: 20 minutes - Virginia Byron, MD, fellow, Columbia University Adolescent Medicine Fellowship Program.

< !· The medical consequences of eating disorders on female adolescent development.



3: 20 minutes - Leah Susser, MD, reproductive psychiatrist, Weill Cornell Medicine.

< !· Eating disorders across the perinatal period: the impact on maternal and fetal health, and mitigating these risks.



4: 20 minutes - Sharon Parish, MD, sexual medicine and menopause specialist at Weill Cornell Medicine and Director of Medical Services at the Westchester Behavioral Health Center of NewYork Presbyterian Hospital.

< !· Eating disorders during reproductive years: the impact of immediate and later-life medical complications on sexual function.



5: 10 minutes - Suzanne Straebler, PhD, PMH-BC, Director of the Eating Disorders Partial Hospital Program and Outpatient Clinic at Weill Cornell/NewYork Presbyterian Hospital.

< !· Screening tools and evidence-based treatments for eating disorders, and implications for individual reproductive stages.