PANDAS are cute. But not when they trigger an eating disorder
Posted Aug 26 2008 4:04pm
Although a few years ago people would have looked at you as if you were a large Asian herbivore if you suggested it, it is increasingly accepted that some cases of anorexia nervosa are triggered by a strep infection : pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcus (PANDAS).
And although I have met parents who have pursued treatment based on this, none but the most savvy or lucky parents will be able to even get the kind of specific testing necessary to rule PANDAS out . One mother I know, married to a doctor and well-connected, talked her skeptical pediatrician into testing her daughter only after lots of pressure. The result was positive and antibiotic treatment successful. (No short cut through the difficult refeeding period, however. Starved bodies are starved bodies.)
Although a few years ago people would have looked at you as if you were a large Asian herbivore if you suggested it, it is increasingly accepted that some cases of anorexia nervosa are triggered by a strep infection : pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcus (PANDAS).
This is well-established in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder , but only recently has it been much discussed in eating disorder circles .
And although I have met parents who have pursued treatment based on this, none but the most savvy or lucky parents will be able to even get the kind of specific testing necessary to rule PANDAS out . One mother I know, married to a doctor and well-connected, talked her skeptical pediatrician into testing her daughter only after lots of pressure. The result was positive and antibiotic treatment successful. (No short cut through the difficult refeeding period, however. Starved bodies are starved bodies.)