""Our observations may be important to an understanding of the mechanism of possible reversal of osteoporosis in anorexia nervosa, for which there is as yet no effective treatment," Dr. Jennifer Dominguez of Columbia University Medical Center in New York City and her colleagues conclude."

"Studies in which anorexic women have been given oral contraceptives or estrogen to help restore bone mass have had mixed results, Dominguez and her team note, while the process by which bone thinning occurs in these patients is not fully understood. Further, they add in the July issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, "the role of nutrition in the recovery of bone has been underestimated.""

"To better understand bone loss and rebuilding in these patients, the researchers followed 28 women with anorexia nervosa who were undergoing treatment to help regain weight, comparing them to a control group of 11 healthy young women."

"After just over two months on nutrition therapy, the anorexia nervosa patients showed significant increases in bone mineral density, the researchers found. Patients' levels of the protein osteocalcin, which is secreted by bone cells and is a key marker of bone formation, also rose. But levels of N-telopeptide, a marker for bone breakdown, remained abnormally high, except among eight women who began menstruating normally after recovering 90 percent of their ideal body weight. "

"The average bone mineral density among women who didn't begin menstruating after treatment
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