title: Late onset anorexia nervosa: two case reports.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Some patients develop an eating disorder at a late age. It is worth investigating why this syndrome develops at such widely different ages.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two Japanese cases of late onset anorexia nervosa are reported.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In these late onset cases, anorexia developed out of sadness over a loss such as bereavement, divorce, and fear or anxiety for the future. In addition, these two patients didn't demonstrate a fear of aging or of losing their attractiveness and sexuality, nor did they develop a dissociative disturbance based on an early traumatic history of sexual abuse in PTSD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the clinical features are similar, there appear to be differences between late onset and adolescent cases in psychological mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Shimane Medical University, Enya, Izumo, Japan. inagaki@shimane-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Takuji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Inagaki
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Horiguchi
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsubouchi
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyaoka
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Uegaki
authors.forename: Haruo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Seno
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D001601:Bereavement; D004243:Divorce / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index