Anorexia nervosa after the menopause.

A patient is described who developed the classical syndrome of anorexia nervosa at the age of 52. Her illness occurred in relation to the marriages of her daughters and showed an extreme preoccupation with her body shape and a determination to slim by diet, purging and vomiting, and the hiding of food to the extent of rendering herself too weak to cope with the demands of her life. It is suggested that anorexia nervosa, though predominantly a disease of onset in adolescence, may present at any age and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of anorexia in patients over the age of 50.