Anorexia Nervosa in Thai Male Adolescents: Case Report

Abstract

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder that is uncommonly reported from developing countries such as Thailand. The authors aim to report the clinical presentation and course of two Thai adolescent males, one with restricting type and one with binge-purge type. The first was a 16-year-old boy who presented with facial puffiness, bilateral leg edema, normotensive bradycardia, chronic kidney disease, and persistent metabolic alkalosis. Diagnosis of AN binge-purge type, mild severity was made. Beyond clinical presentation, this case highlights the relevance of psychosocial assessments for adolescents. The second patient was a 13-year-old boy who presented with significant weight loss, sinus bradycardia, hypercholesterolemia, transaminitis, and euthyroid sick syndrome secondary to AN extreme severity. This patient’s presentation was typical for AN and highlights the severity of the illness that can present in male adolescents. Both lived in rural regions of Northeastern Thailand and experienced symptoms as young as 13 and 12 years of age. Even though, AN is uncommon in males, two cases presented at the authors’ tertiary care center in two consecutive years. Each case had different subtypes, but what they had in common were low to middle socioeconomic status and living in rural areas, which confirms that AN is found in both females and males in Asian cultures. Further studies to estimate the prevalence of eating disorders should be done to understand the disease in both male and female Thais. Keywords: eating disorder, male, Asian, renal insufficiency, depression, adolescent