Helen Burton Murray, PhD on the Relationship Between GI Disorders and Eating Disorders

In a recent interview, Helen Burton Murray, PhD, Director of the GI Behavioral Health Program in the MGH Center for Neurointestinal Health, discusses the bidirectional relationship between gastrointestinal disorders and eating disorders.  While eating disorders are primarily treated as psychiatric disorders, individuals with eating disorders also experience a range of physical comorbidities, including gastrointestinal (GI) disorders.  Eating disorders can lead to or exacerbate various GI symptoms, and GI disorders can lead to or worsen disordered eating behaviors.

According to research from Dr. Burton Murray and her colleagues, disordered eating symptoms are reported in 5% to 44% of individuals presenting with GI disorders.  In more recent research, it has been shown that avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder or ARFID is relatively common in those with gastrointestinal disorders, occurring in 23% to 40% of pediatric and adult patients with disorders of the gut–brain interaction (DGBI, formerly called “functional gastrointestinal disorders”).