Eating Disorders Awareness
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMI)
Adapted from: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/eating-disorders/what-are-eating-disorders.shtml
Eating disorders are real, treatable medical illnesses that cause serious disturbances to ones everyday diet, such as eating extremely small amounts of food or severely overeating. Severe distress or concern about body weight or shape may also characterize an eating disorder. Symptoms associated with eating disorders can become life-threatening if a person does not receive treatment. Common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder.
Many people with anorexia nervosa see themselves as overweight, even when they are clearly underweight. Eating, food, and weight control become obsessions. Some people with anorexia nervosa may also engage in binge-eating followed by extreme dieting, excessive exercise, self-induced vomiting, and/or misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or enemas.
Other symptoms may develop over time, including: thinning of the bones (osteopenia or osteoporosis), brittle hair and nails, dry and yellowish skin, growth of fine hair all over the body (lanugo), mild anemia and muscle wasting and weakness, severe constipation, low blood pressure, slowed breathing and pulse, damage to the structure and function of the heart, brain damage, multiorgan failure, drop in internal body temperature, causing a person to feel cold all the time, lethargy, sluggishness, or feeling tired all the time, infertility.
Bulimia nervosa is characterized by recurrent and frequent episodes of eating unusually large amounts of food and feeling a lack of control over these episodes. This is followed by behavior that compensates for the overeating such as forced vomiting, excessive use of laxatives or diuretics, fasting, and/or excessive exercise. The binge-eating, purging cycle happens anywhere from several times a week to many times a day. People with bulimia nervosa usually maintain what is considered a normal weight, while some are slightly overweight.
Other symptoms include: chronically inflamed and sore throat, swollen salivary glands in the neck and jaw area, worn tooth enamel, increasingly sensitive and decaying teeth as a result of exposure to stomach acid, acid reflux disorder and other gastrointestinal problems, intestinal distress and irritation from laxative abuse, severe dehydration from purging of fluids, electrolyte imbalance (too low or too high levels of sodium, calcium, potassium and other minerals) which can lead to heart attack.
With binge-eating disorder a person loses control over his or her eating. Unlike bulimia nervosa, periods of binge-eating are not followed by purging, excessive exercise, or fasting. People with binge-eating disorder often are over-weight or obese and are at a higher risk for developing cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure. They also experience guilt, shame, and distress about their binge-eating, which can lead to more binge-eating.
Treatment of eating disorders includes insuring adequate nutrition, reducing excessive exercise, and stopping purging behaviors. Specific forms of psychotherapy, or talk therapy, and medication are effective for many eating disorders. Treatment plans often are tailored to individual needs and may include one or more of the following: individual, group, and/or family psychotherapy, medical care and monitoring, nutritional counseling, medications. Some patients may also need to be hospitalized to treat problems caused by malnutrition or to ensure they eat enough if they are very underweight.
Individuals with a potential eating disorder should discuss their concerns with a healthcare provider.
