Yet Another Pathological Eating Nightmare

"Popular media have highlighted the risks for poor cardiovascular health, obesity and cancer associated with junk food, but poor nutrition can also permanently damage the nervous system, particularly vision."
"That means [youth diagnosed with optic neuropathy] he can't drive and would find it really difficult to read, watch TV or discern faces."
"He can walk around on his own though, because he has got peripheral vision."
"Initially, they may struggle to function [body cells lacking a variety of nutrients to enable normal functioning] with depleted supplies but eventually they [the cells] will die."
"So, problems take a long time to develop [following four years on the chosen restrictive diet]."
Dr. Denize Atan opthalmologist, Bristol Eye Hospital

"However, the patient confessed that, since elementary school, he would not eat certain textures of food."
"He had a daily portion of fries from the local fish and chip shop and snacked on Pringles [Kellogg], white bread, processed ham slices, and sausage."
"[Unlike anorexia nervosa], avoidant-restrictive food intake disorder [is not driven by concerns about body image or weight gain. It tends to strike in middle childhood in a sudden lack of interest in food, a heightened sensitivity to certain textures and] fear of the consequences of eating."
"Nutritional optic neuropathy should be considered in any patient with unexplained vision symptoms and poor diet, regardless of BMI."
Bristol research team: "Blindness caused by junk food diet"

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A study of a case linked to the fairly newly coined "avoidant-restrictive food intake disorder" (ARFID), recently added to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, was published in Annals of Internal Medicine, titled "Blindness caused by junk food diet", chronicling the case of a 14-year-old from Bristol, brought to his family doctor when he complained of feeling constantly tired. The boy seemed well enough but he was described as a "fussy eater".

The examining physician diagnosed him with macrocytic anemia -- abnormally large red blood cells -- along with low levels of vitamin B12. After which B12 injections were prescribed, and the boy was advised to expand his diet sensibly, to begin eating a healthier diet. Instead, he began to develop loss of hearing after a year and then started complaining of problems with his vision which grew more compromised over the following two years. He was eventually sent on to Bristol Eye Hospital. And there Dr. Atan diagnosed damage to the optic nerve.

Alcohol, tobacco or drug use were all ruled out as a causative. The boy denied ever using any of them. He was of normal-to-average height and weight as was his body mass index. The vitamin B12 shots had gone by the wayside, leaving him with low levels of copper, selenium and vitamin D levels as well as abnormally high zinc levels -- and he was losing bone mass. Placed on nutritional supplements, he was referred to a mental health expert for validation of a suspected eating disorder.

His vision appeared to stabilize, leaving him, however, with permanent blind spaces in the centre of both his eyes. Malnourishment causing optic neuropathy is rare in developed countries, and caught early enough the condition can be reversible. However, left untreated, it leads to permanent blindness. Now 19 and studying information technology, the young man is registered with sight impairment and will never drive a vehicle.

InspiredTaste Veggie Burger

Selective eating deliberately and severely restricted to inexpensive, nutritionally vacant junk foods cause multiple vitamin deficiencies creating a recognized eating disorder. And according to Dr. Atan writing as well in The Conversation, it is quite possible that nutritional optic neuropathy will become more commonly diagnosed given recent trends.
"For example, the wide-spread consumption of junk food at the expense of more nutritious food and the rising popularity of veganism can lead to vitamin D and B12 deficiencies, because fish, meat, eggs and dairy are the main dietary sources of these vitamins."

While it is possible to remain healthy eating a vegan diet that is plant-based, including a variety of fruit and vegetables, nuts, seeds and grains, "...this still needs to be supplemented with B12 in particular, as animal products are the main source of B12."

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