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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.
MediFocus Guides... When You Need Trustworthy Medical Information
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
MediFocus Guides... When You Need Trustworthy Medical Information
MediFocus.com understands that consumers who are facing serious medical issues need access to credible, up-to-date medical information to help them make informed health-care decisions. That's why we've developed the MediFocus Guides...the most advanced and trustworthy patient research guides for over 200 chronic and life-threatening conditions. Each MediFocus Guide includes a detailed overview of the condition including information about diagnosis, treatment options, cutting-edge research, and new developments; excerpts of important journal articles from the current medical literature focusing on standard treatments and treatment options; a directory of leading authors and medical institutions who specialize in the treatment of the condition; and a listing of organizations and support groups where you can obtain additional information about the illness.
MediFocus Guides are the perfect solution for consumers who wish to gain an in-depth understanding of their medical issue and avail themselves of the same type of professional level medical information that is used by physicians and other health-care professionals to help then in the clinical decision making process.
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