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Back to Directory Eating Disorders: Anorexia and Bulimia
(PS004)
Introduction
Eating disorders are characterized by serious disturbance in eating, such as the restriction of intake or bingeing, as well as distress or excessive concern about body shape or body weight. There are several types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), binge eating disorder, as well as atypical eating disorders.
Eating disorders affect an estimated 5 million Americans every year. While eating disorders primarily affect young females, they can also occur in males, young children and older adults over the age of 50. Eating disorders appear to be caused by a combination of genetic, neurochemical, psychodevelopmental, and sociocultural factors.
The goals of treatment for all eating disorders include stabilization of medical and nutritional status, identification and resolution of psychological precipitants of the disorder, and reestablishment of healthful patterns of eating.
Education and modifications of behavior are the preferred methods of effecting weight gain. Enteral (tube-feeding) and parenteral (intravenous) nutrition is reserved for those with severe undernutrition. Medications such as antidepressants are commonly used.
The Medifocus Guide on Eating Disorders provides answers to the following important questions and medical issues:
What are the most common symptoms of eating disorders?
Are there any recognized risk factors for developing eating disorders?
What kinds of medical tests are used to establish the diagnosis of eating disorders?
What is the current standard of care for the treatment of eating disorders?
What treatment options are available for the management of eating disorders?
Are there any promising new developments or potential breakthroughs in treatment?
Who are the most notable medical authorities who specialize in eating disorders?
Where are the leading hospitals and centers of research for eating disorders?
What are the most important questions to ask my doctor about eating disorders?
What Your Doctor Reads:
This MediFocus Guide contains an extensive listing of citations and abstracts of recent journal articles that have been published about this condition in trustworthy medical journals. This is the same type of information that is available to physicians and other health care professionals. A partial selection of journal articles that are abstracted in this MediFocus Guide includes:
Stepped care treatment for eating disorders. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology. 2000
Eating disorders in adolescents and young adults. Medical Clinics of North America. 2000
Eating disorders: diagnosis, etiology, and prevention. Nutrition. 2000
Eating disorders: a strategic approach. Practitioner. 2000
The female athlete triad. American Family Physician. 2000
The reproductive endocrine consequences of anorexia nervosa. BJOG: an International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology. 2000
Eating disorders and family therapy. Why, how and when?. Eating & Weight Disorders: EWD. 2000
Gastric perforation caused by a bulimic attack in an anorexia nervosa patient: report of a case. Surgery Today. 2000
Research on eating disorders: current status and future prospects. Biological Psychiatry. 2000
Eating disorders: a situation of malnutrition with peculiar changes in the immune system. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2000
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