Expert: Joanne - 2/14/2007

Question
Hi, I have an odd question but it’s something that I wonder a lot and can’t seem to find much information about.  For the last year I have been fasting, restricting, taking diet pills, binging, using laxatives, and over- exercising.  Well, I am getting ready to complete my third year in college where as of right now I am majoring in nursing to become a nurse practitioner, but I am now wanting to try to get into Med school (which I know is extremely hard).  So the question I wonder is, does restricting and fasting kill your brain cells?  Right now I have a 4.0 so the last year it hasn’t affected my grades, but then I wonder if it is really killing my brain cells and I just haven’t noticed it yet.  I also like to believe that in my case its different because I will fast or restrict but then eat normal or binge a day or two or three (binge for me means 1800-2200)  so its not like I am restricting or fasting 7 days a week.  Also my weight fluctuates big time so I never stay at a really low weight I will gain 5-10 pounds and then in a week lose it from fasting and this cycle continues over and over again.  So with that being said do you think I am losing brain cells?  This really bothers me and I would like to think that I am not because I can’t seem to stop this cycle I am in, but at the same time I don’t want to kill brain cells and it effect my school and grades.  So since your in the medical field and have went through the same thing I thought maybe you would knew this answer, or know just from your own experience.  Thanks!  

Answer
I can't find any evidence to say that fasting will kill brain cells, but it will affect your concentration.  The constant thoughts that go along with an eating disorder will prevent you from thinking about what you need to be concentrating on, and when you have low sugar levels, etc, your brain will struggle to focus on what it is meant to.

Many people suffering from eating disorders are high achievers - most are straight A students, but eventually, as you become more and more consumed by the eating disorder and the thought processes, it will affect your grades!

I just beg you to get medical help/therapy for this soon!  Once you get to med school, things change completely!  All of a sudden, everyone is high achieving, so to be one of the best is very hard.  At my med school, very few people carry excess weight, so that feeds eating disorders, and as you get more and more information on what you are eating and the health effects, etc, it becomes easier and easier to become very ill!

Disordered eating patterns are everywhere in medical school, most people fit into the stereotype of high achieving, people pleasing, etc, and I know that many of them will succeed in becoming the Drs that they want to be, but personally, I don't believe that medical school and eating disorders mix!  Being in medical school has helped me get over the worst of my eating problems as I know that to be the best I can be, I can only have one or the other!  I couldn't be good at being anorexic/bulimic if I was spending as much time on my studies as I have to, and I know that I wouldn't be a very good medical student if I couldn't focus completely on that due to constantly thinking about what to eat/not eat!  In the end, there was only one logical option - I could not throw away my future in a good profession for the sake of being thin, never being happy as I would never be thin enough, and possibly dying before I got to the point that I could say that I had gone far enough!

Plus in my first first year (I had to pull out first time round due to my health) I was pulled up by the Dean of the medical school as they could see that I had an eating disorder.  A friend of mine has recently been made to speak to a uni medical advisor over past eating disorders and her future as a medic!  These lecturers are not silly, and most of them will be highly qualified Drs, and can pick up very easily signs of eating disorders!

I hope that you will take this on board and think about trying to get some treatment for this!  I wish you all the best, and would like you to feel that you can come back if you have anything else to ask, or need someone to vent to!

Holly