HEMEDIA_ISLA_EVANS_07

Collect picture of Isla Evans, aged ten, from Elgin, Moray. See Centre Press story CPDYING; A mum misdiagnosed with anorexia has slammed the health service after she was finally found to suffer from a rare life-threatening stomach disorder -- 20 years late. Isla Evans first complained of stomach pains when she was 10 years old, but repeated visits to her local doctor failed to find the true cause. Instead she found herself diagnosed with anorexia, a serious mental condition where a person deliberately tries to lose as much weight as possible. But after 20 years of suffering physical stomach pains she was finally diagnosed with Superior Mescentric Artery Syndrome (SMAS) in December last year. The condition is potentially life-threatening as it causes the small intestine, called the duodenum, to be compressed by an overlying artery which stops food from passing through. Isla claims she was told that the condition is so rare that there are no doctors in the UK who can operate on her. The mum-of two, from Elgin, said: "I was only diagnosed with SMAS in December last year but I've suffered with it since I was 10 years old. It's horrible to be told for so long that I had anorexia. It wasn't nice at all and I believed that I must've been going mad."