An adolescent who is obsessed with weight and food needs medical intervention after losing significant body weight due to the risk of which condition?

The need for medical intervention in an adolescent who is obsessed with weight and food, particularly after losing significant body weight, is critical due to the heightened risk of cardiac arrest. This concern stems from the potential effects of extreme weight loss, which can lead to electrolyte imbalances, malnutrition, and severe physiological stress on the body.

Adolescents struggling with disordered eating patterns, such as anorexia nervosa, are at a particularly high risk for heart complications. These can include arrhythmias, bradycardia, and, in the most severe cases, cardiac arrest, which is a sudden cessation of heart function. Prolonged malnutrition and low body weight can disrupt heart function, making this risk especially acute in the context of an obsession with weight and food.

While other conditions such as osteoporosis, which involves weakening of bones due to lack of calcium and nutrition, and hyperthyroidism, a condition that can accelerate metabolism might be relevant, they are not the immediate life-threatening concerns that cardiac arrest presents. Diabetes can arise from various factors, but it is typically not an acute complication of severe weight loss in this context. Thus, the most pressing concern with medical implications in this scenario is the risk of cardiac arrest.