Monday's Internet Edition, October 06, 2008.
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| Diane Brown poses with photos and mementos of her late daughter, Lauren Brown. |
Anorexia is an eating disorder characterized by an extreme fear of obesity, which often leads to avoiding food. It has the highest death rate of any mental disorder, according to background information in the Swedish study, which appeared in the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.
The Swedish study was not originally conducted to obtain information about anorexia. The original study, conducted in 1972 and 1973, asked all participants in the Swedish twin registry to answer a questionnaire. It gathered information about demographics, health and social circumstances.
A more current study focused on 31,406 twins in the registry who were born between Jan. 1, 1935 and Dec. 31, 1958. The twins were studied for four years, ending in 2002.
After being screened for a variety of disorders, Cynthia M. Bulik, Ph.D., of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her colleagues, found the overall prevalence of anorexia in 2002 was 1.2 percent in women and .29 percent in men. These findings were determined after prevalence, heritability and risk factors were assessed in the 31,406 twins.
According to this research, anorexia is 56 percent heritable, or genetically related, with the remaining factors being environmental.
This study helps to dispel a stigma that is closely associated with anorexia. It is not necessarily a “disease of choice.”
Ray and Diane Brown, of Clemmons, have been trying to dispel this stigma since their daughter, Lauren Brown, died in 2003 in her sleep due to complications associated with anorexia. Lauren was enrolled in an outpatient therapy program for eating disorders at Duke University at the time of her death.
Lauren’s battle with anorexia became apparent to her mother during her sophomore year at Forsyth Country Day School. Lauren was an athlete and insisted she was eating healthy; her mother would only later find out that Lauren and a friend had limited their eating habits to 500 calories a day.
Lauren graduated magna cum laude from Georgia Tech with a bachelor of science in applied biology in 1999. She enrolled in the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in August 2000. She wanted to pursue a career in pediatrics and neonatology.
Lauren struggled with her anorexia and attended numerous eating disorder therapy programs throughout her educational pursuits. Although Lauren eventually lost her battle with anorexia, her mother and father are continuing to fight the disease.
Diane serves on the Board of Visitors of the UNC Eating Disorders Program. She and her husband speak about eating disorders whenever they have an opportunity. Speaking at the UNC and Duke medical schools, health fairs, civic and church organizations and working with the UNC Eating Disorders Program provides opportunities for the Browns to help others understand the facts about anorexia.
The Browns are trying to promote eating disorder education for physicians and all health care providers, as well as the general public. Diane has spoken with local dentists to convey how important they are in early diagnosis of an eating disorder.
“The enamel wearing away on teeth is one of the first signs of an eating disorder and dentists often don’t associate it with eating disorders,” Brown said.
Diane has also traveled to Washington, D.C., for two years, to help the Eating Disorder Coalition on its lobbying days. Diane spoke last June at the Coalition’s conference held in association with lobby day.
Diane is an educator, a half-time teacher at Meadowlark Elementary School, and realizes the need for schools to get involved in the education process. She has spoken to some life skills classes about eating disorders and Lauren’s story at West Forsyth High School and would like to get more prevention and education included in the curriculum.
“You can always hear a pin drop when I tell her story, our story, no matter where I tell it--but especially when speaking to high school students,” Brown said.
The UNC School of Medicine’s Class of 2004, the class Lauren would have graduated with, established the Lauren K. Brown, MD Memorial Fund in her honor. Their goal is to raise enough money to endow a yearly lectureship, and ultimately, a fellowship in eating disorders.
Ray and Diane Brown were invited to accept Lauren’s medical degree from UNC School of Medicine and they were overwhelmed when the graduating students wore lapel pins with the words “Remember Lauren” on their graduation gowns.
The words were on a lavender ribbon, which was surrounded by a giraffe and an elephant. Lauren and her mother had crocheted these animals and when Lauren died, her mother realized they were the picture of Lauren’s disease--the giraffe was what the outside world saw when they looked at Lauren and the elephant was what Lauren saw when she looked at herself.
For more information on the UNC-Chapel Hill Eating Disorders Program, call 919-966-7012. The program offers a free phone evaluation by an intake coordinator who will assess the general level of severity and make recommendations for those who ask for it.
In addition, Triad Friends & Family meet every second Monday evening of the moth from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Mental Health Association in Forsyth County. For more information about A Support Group for Friends and Family of Persons with Eating Disorders, contact Shirley Bailey at 336-769-9780.