Despite the grim mortality rates (about 5.6% per decade) and length of illness reported elsewhere, the researchers also found that by age 28, up to 70% of women had recovered.

The average duration of anorexia was three years. Overall, about 66.8% of women with severe disease recovered within five years from the onset of symptoms, and more than 70%, including those with less severe disease, recovered during the study time. About 25% recovered within a year and about 33% within two years.

The researchers said they did not assess mortality because the number of cases was small and follow-up was limited to age 22 to 28. Only a third of the women (38) with severe anorexia had symptoms longer than five years, and only 8.4% (19) had symptoms beyond 10 years.

However, it is worth noting, they said, that overall mortality in this cohort was low, with only eight deaths recorded from age 16 to the assessment between ages 22 and 28.

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